For the first time in years, my silence was not surrender.

It was a decision not to give him another private stage.

PART 16: THE BOARDROOM WITHOUT HIM

The interim CEO was an operations executive named Simone Grant, who had spent fifteen years managing hotel openings.

She was not glamorous and had no interest in appearing on magazine covers.

At our first meeting, she brought a three-page list of urgent needs rather than a speech.

“Two properties have deferred maintenance,” she said.