ADRIAN'S steps were heavy as he walked back into the tall glass building, his jaw tightened, eyes shadowed with the storm brewing inside him. The echoes of laughter, applause, and lingering chatter of dignitaries trailed faintly behind him, but he ignored them all. Some even greeted, hailed him, all trying to get his attention, but he wasn't in the mood for that, he ignored them.

For the first time in years, Adrian Cole, the man who had always commanded every room he walked into, couldn't muster the will to smile or acknowledge the greetings that came his way.

The board meeting had ended, but the shock of what he had...