“It was sixteen hours,” I said. “From my brother reaching the gate to the board vote it was about sixty. And in that time we discussed lenders, the offering, the audit trigger, the logistics contract, the media, and my ex-husband’s personal guarantees.

Nobody in that room said the word employees once. Including me. And I want to be precise: it isn’t that we considered you and decided you were acceptable losses.

You did not come up.”

She looked at me for a while.

“That’s worse,” she said.

“Yes.”