The lawyer's office was cold and quiet. The table in front of her was polished and shiny, but it didn't make her feel better.
He sat across from her, calm and smug, like he owned the world. "Sign it," he said, his voice smooth but full of sharpness. "You'll never understand the world you left behind."
She forced a small smile and kept her hands folded on her lap. Calm on the outside, storm inside. Understand his world? she thought. I lived in it. I know its cracks.
The lawyer cleared his throat. "Ms. Lim, once you sign, this finalizes everything—property, money, even custody."
She looked at the papers. At first, they seemed normal. But then she noticed a small note, almost hidden at the bottom of a page:
Board meeting… tonight… emergency.
Her heart skipped. A secret company alert hidden in these papers? Why here?
He leaned back, smirking. "Thinking hard? Don't waste time. Sign it, and we move on."
She laughed softly. Move on? Not yet. Not until he knows he underestimated her.
Her fingers hovered over the pen, but she didn't sign. Instead, she looked around the room. The sterile walls. The nervous lawyer. His smug face. He thinks I'm weak. He's wrong.
"You're… different," he said, almost mocking. "I suppose I should be flattered."
"I'm nothing you can understand," she whispered, calm and steady.
She pulled out her phone, pretending to check messages. The hidden board alert blinked: emergency meeting tonight. Big decisions. Maybe a crisis. Maybe an opportunity.
Does he even know? she wondered.
He stood up. "Well, that's it. Goodbye." His eyes lingered, sharp. Measuring.
She smiled. Not a smile of defeat. A smile of planning. "Goodbye," she said. Straightening her blazer, she walked out, feeling a thrill she hadn't felt in months.
The note on the paper flashed in her mind again:
Board meeting… tonight… emergency.
So it begins, she thought.