“I’m thinking of starting at double your current rate, with a significant bonus for the launch,” he stated.

I told him that sounded like a perfect arrangement, and we started walking toward the exit together.

Nicholas tried to intercept us one last time, his tie crooked and a desperate look in his eyes.

“Jenna, wait—I truly didn’t know about your work,” he pleaded, trying to play it off as a simple sibling misunderstanding.

Emmett looked at him with a coldness that made the air feel heavy, and told him the problem wasn’t his lack of knowledge.

“The problem is that you never cared to see her value, because you were too busy looking at yourself,” Emmett said.

Then he told Nicholas to bring a box to the office on Monday, because his position at Apex Dynamics was no longer secure.

Nicholas stood there in total silence as his world crumbled around him on what was supposed to be his biggest night.