Chapter 16 Sixteen

• Ethan:
• I stared at the screen in front of me, my mind still struggling to process the impossible reality unfolding in front of my eyes. The numbers were all wrong. The figures that had always been so reliable, the ones that had promised growth and success, were now plummeting. I blinked, rubbed my eyes, and tried again, but nothing changed. The stock prices continued their downward spiral, and as if to mock me, the article about Karina and Michael’s engagement loomed large on the screen.
• I couldn't fathom it. I kept telling myself that I had to be misreading something. There had to be an explanation, some way to fix this, some way to get everything back on track. But the more I stared at the cold, hard evidence, the more it felt like the ground beneath me was giving way. It wasn’t just the company that was collapsing. It was everything. My life. My future. Everything I had worked for, everything I had thought I had under control, was crumbling away.