"Everything looks in order, Elias," Marcus said, his voice smooth as oil. "Sign on the dotted line, and we can all go to lunch."
"Maybe," Elias replied, tucking the pen into his pocket. "But I'll be able to sleep on Christmas Eve." Don’t get the deal
"I can't do it," Elias said. The words were quiet, but they cut through the room like a blade. "Everything looks in order, Elias," Marcus said, his
The voice was his father’s, rasping and distant, echoing from a memory twenty years old. It wasn't a command; it was a warning Elias had ignored for months. He looked at the CEO, Marcus, whose smile was as polished and cold as the marble floors. Marcus wasn’t buying a company; he was buying a competitor to dismantle it. The words were quiet, but they cut through
"The terms have changed," Elias said, standing up. "Or rather, I have. My people aren't line items on a spreadsheet. They’re the reason this company exists. If this deal requires their heads, then there is no deal."
Elias looked at the "Exit Strategy" clause. It promised him wealth, but it guaranteed the termination of three hundred employees—people who had worked in his garage when the company was just a dream. He thought of Sarah in accounting, who was putting her son through college, and Mike in the warehouse, who had just bought his first home.
Marcus blinked, his smile faltering. "Excuse me? We’ve spent six months on this."