Chapter 13 - The Night the Empire BurnedThe attack lasted forty seconds.
Forty seconds of glass, alarms, screaming, and smoke.
Security teams rushed through the hallway.
Eleanor was injured.
I dragged her behind a concrete support column.
"Stay with me."
"I'm fine."
Blood stained her sleeve.
"You are not fine."
She smiled weakly.
"Your mother used to say the same thing."
Then she handed me a small key.
"If they come for you, go to the old Solmere warehouse in Brooklyn."
"What is there?"
"The beginning."
The attackers disappeared before police arrived.
But they had left a message.
Painted across the lobby wall in black:
YOU CANNOT INHERIT A WAR.
I stared at the words.
Then I understood.
This wasn't about protecting my company anymore.
It was about surviving.
I called Mr. Henderson.
"Close every Solmere property."
"All of them?"
"Yes."
"And the employees?"
"Protect them first."
For the first time, I understood what leadership really meant.
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It wasn't about sitting behind a desk.
It was about deciding who would be protected when everything collapsed.
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