To the Morrison family, I was merely the inconvenient, pregnant ex-wife—a woman to be tolerated, mocked, and eventually discarded

The room changed.

Diane’s smirk weakened. Jessica lowered her glass. Brendan’s eyes narrowed, searching my face for the punchline he desperately needed to exist.

Arthur was silent for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice had dropped. “Cassidy, if I do that, the Morrisons could lose everything. Are you certain?”

Brendan pushed back from the table. “What is Protocol Seven?”

I did not look away from him.

Protocol Seven was not a bluff. It was the clause I had drafted during the divorce, the one designed to protect the company from reckless executive abuse

Chapter 4: The Empire Freezes

“Do it,” I said. “Now.”

I ended the call and placed the phone gently on the table.

For five seconds, the silence was almost beautiful.

Then the first vibration came. A low hum against the wood. Brendan glanced down. His phone lit up with a board notification. Then Jessica’s phone followed. Then Diane’s. Around the room, screens flashed like warning lights on a sinking ship.

Their faces changed one by one.