Chapter 28
May 30, 2025
Celene’s POV…
When I sent the calendar invite, I knew what I was starting. Three names. One room. No safety nets.
Subject: Q4 Strategic Review
Location: Executive Boardroom A
Attendees: Celene Monroe. Damon Ashcroft. Rhys Carrington.
No assistants. No distractions. No exits.
This wasn’t just business. This was a test. For them. For me. And for whatever the hell still hung in the air between us. Damon was already seated when I walked in. Poised. Silent. Dead calm. He didn’t glance up, just clicked his pen once like a warning shot. Rhys entered two minutes later, intentionally late like it was a brand. He stopped the moment he saw Damon and forced a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“Adrian,” he said coolly.
“Hm,” Adrian replied, not even bothering with eye contact. They both looked at me as I took my seat at the head. I didn’t flinch. I didn’t smile.
“Ground rule,” I said. “This meeting is about strategy. If either of you brought personal issues, check them at the damn door.” No one argued. But no one relaxed either. We jumped into the agenda.
Damon started. “If we reallocate the Q4 spend, we can triple R&D investment without touching launch overhead.”
Before I could weigh in, Rhys cut in. “And kill cash flow flexibility? Great pitch if you want layoffs next quarter.”
Damon turned his head, slow and precise. “I’m sorry, are you still in charge of financial modeling?”
Rhys leaned forward. “No. But I am in charge of protecting our suppliers from another panic scramble, which your model doesn’t even account for.”
I raised my hand. “Both of you, pause.” They did.
I looked at Adrian. “I agree with reallocating spending, but not to R&D. Split it. Sixty percent to launch analytics, forty percent to digital infrastructure.” Damon nodded, tight but respectful.
Rhys muttered, “That’ll backfire if we hit a product delay.”
I looked at him. “Then build in a five-day contingency buffer and stop assuming every change is sabotage.” That shut him up. For now. Next up, team leadership restructuring.
“I want Dani promoted to lead product strategy,” Damon said. “She’s already unofficially running it.”
Rhys exhaled. “She’s green. She can’t scale internationally.”
“She doesn’t have to,” Damon shot back. “She delegates like a general.”
I stepped in. “Damon’s right. Dani’s earned it. But I’ll assign Justin to shadow her during rollout. We balance it. Next.” Rhys didn’t argue, but I could feel the burn in his silence. Slide after slide. Decision after decision. Every single suggestion? A battlefield.
Rhys proposed an expansion timeline for Phase II. Damon shot it down, saying it lacked supply chain coverage. Damon laid out a recruitment restructure. Rhys pointed out the projected turnover cost was thirty percent too low. And me? I was the axis. The one spinning between them.
I kept my voice sharp. My decisions quicker. I gave no space for either of them to turn this into something personal. But under the surface? It already was. Every time I agreed with Damon, Rhys went rigid. Every time I sided with Rhys, Damon’s jaw tightened. They weren’t just fighting to be right. They were fighting not to be the one I shut down. And both of them were watching me. Not the screen. Not the charts. Me.
We hit the final slide. “Rollout execution,” I said. “We need to lock it now.”
Damon spoke first. “We delay by one week. Better QA. Fewer mistakes.”
Rhys was immediate. “If we delay, we miss international window alignment. That’s a PR nightmare.” I leaned back. Thought. Then spoke.
“Rollout on schedule. But we build in overtime hours and hire three temporary analysts to support QA. Final. Agreed?” Damon hesitated, then nodded. Rhys didn’t.
I stared down at him. “Problem?”
He held my gaze. “No. Just noting how far you’ve come from taking orders.”
I smiled sweetly. “Good. Now watch how well I give them.”
