Some endings arrive like explosions.

Loud. Violent. Impossible to ignore.

But the worst ones?

They happen quietly.

Piece by piece.

So slowly that by the time you realize something is falling apart…

It already has.

The email came at 6:12 a.m.

Short.

Polite.

Devastating.

Subject: URGENT – Board Review Decision

Ethan stared at it for a long time before opening it.

Not because he didn’t know what it meant.

Because he did.

The sun had barely risen, pale light filtering through the floor-to-ceiling windows of his apartment. The city was still stretching awake, unaware that somewhere above its skyline, a quiet collapse had just begun.

He opened the email.

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