"I lost my company today."
Marcus said it out loud for the first time, standing in Viktor's operations center, staring at screens filled with data that suddenly felt overwhelming rather than empowering.
"You didn't lose it," Viktor said from his workstation."
"I just handed operational control to someone else based on a board vote I couldn't stop, after watching hundreds of millions of dollars disappear from accounts I'm supposed to protect."
He turned away from the screens and walked to the window.
His life had just collapsed.
"Marcus," Aria said gently, crossing the room to stand beside him. "You made the right choice. That's not the same as losing."
"Then why does it feel like surrender?" Marcus asked.
Dmitri stood from his position near the computer equipment. "Because you built that company from nothing. Walking away, even temporarily, feels like abandoning something you created. But you're not abandoning it. You're protecting it the only way you could."
