Elena's POV
I sat at the head of the table, facing a room full of blank expressions. The board members stared at me with closed-off faces, and the energy in the room was quiet against every idea I’d suggested.
It didn’t matter that I’d stayed up late planning, revising, or that I believed in this project with every fiber of my being. They were dismissing it all, their quiet murmurs filling the room.
"It's a bad idea," one of them whispered just loud enough for me to catch.
My heart skipped, the words were piercing through the confidence I was trying to build for this moment. I wanted to say something—anything—that would convince them, but every glance exchanged among them was like a silent confirmation of their rejection.
Part of me wanted to give up, to accept that they were right, t
