The damage didn’t arrive all at once.

It crept in quietly, disguised as coincidence, wrapped in professionalism and polite concern. By the time Amara realized how deeply it had sunk its teeth into her world, it was already embedded.

She noticed it first in the pauses.

Emails that once received immediate replies now lingered unanswered. Invitations softened in language—we’ll circle back, let’s revisit this next quarter. Meetings that had been firm became tentative, then disappeared entirely.

Amara sat at the long conference table in the gallery’s private office, hands folded neatly in front of her, listening as Miguel spoke.

“They’re not pulling out,” he said carefully. “Not officially. But they’re…...