Dominic arrived at my office eleven minutes early. He had never been early for anything that did not involve a plane.

Nadia looked through the glass wall at him, then at me. "Do you want me in there?"

"No."

"Do you want me directly outside pretending not to listen?"

"Yes."

The notice arrived at 7:14 on Tuesday morning. Dominic read it once in his office. Then again.

**Seventy-two hours to deliver an acceptable cure plan.**

The bank did not use the word panic. Banks never did. They used words like liquidity, covenant, remediation, and re

Vale Global's boardroom looked exactly the way I remembered it. Same dark table. Same skyline. Same row of water glasses no one touched until a meeting was going badly. The difference was my chair. This time, my name was on it.

MARA BENNETT

BENNETT & MERCER / NORTHSTAR