Corporate Casualties

The golden retriever waited by the door, her muzzle graying like the corporate memo in Elena's hand. She'd rescued Daisy during her divorce—the only living thing that didn't have an angle, didn't want something. Now Elena was the one being betrayed.

Marcus had been feeding information to their competitor for eighteen months. A corporate spy in Italian wool suits, laughing at her happy hours, sleeping on her couch after late-night brainstorming sessions. Elena had found the encrypted files on his desktop while he was in the restroom—client lists, product prototypes, her own private notes.

The office elevator dinged. She pressed the button for the thirty-fifth floor, watching her reflection. Forty-two years old, and she was still navigating this bull market of human connections, still believing that loyalty meant something.

Daisy would be waiting. The dog had more integrity in her paw than Marcus had in his entire body. That was the joke, wasn't it? She'd spent two decades climbing corporate ladders, swallowing company lines about family and values, while the one creature who actually loved her without condition was currently napping on a bathmat she'd bought at Target.

The elevator doors opened. Marcus was there, holding two coffees, smiling that practiced smile. "Rough night?" he asked.

Elena stepped out. "You could say that."

Her phone buzzed—legal counsel on line one. Her hand trembled. Somewhere in this building, security was already drafting the termination letter. But in that moment, she felt something strange: relief. The pretending was over. No more late nights proving her worth to people who'd sell her for a promotion. No more buying into the bull.

She thought of Daisy, the way the dog greeted her every evening like she'd been gone for years. Pure. Uncomplicated. Real.

"Elena?" Marcus's smile faltered.

She walked past him toward her office, toward the phone, toward whatever came next. Some things in life you couldn't control. But you could choose who got your loyalty. And hers would never again be for sale.