“This is a private negotiation.”
His voice carried.
That was deliberate.
He wanted the room to remember where she belonged.
“You are not part of this meeting,” he said. “You clean floors. That is your assignment. Not this.”
The insult did more than humiliate her.
It announced to everyone present that he saw her as a boundary violation.
Not a person.
A category error.
Madison turned toward him.
Her face did not change.
If anything, her calm made him angrier.
“I heard a mistranslation,” she said. “I was trying to prevent further confusion.”
“That is not your place.”
“No,” the investor said from behind them.
The word was quiet.
Paul stopped.
Everyone did.
The investor had not raised his voice.
He did not need to.
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