Bram Halloway

***Hazel***

When Richard pushed his chair back and stood, I was ready for the axe to fall.

I felt it in my bones—that familiar tightening in my chest that came whenever power decided to remind you exactly where you stood beneath it. I expected him to announce that my decision was irrelevant, that my stubborn defiance had merely entertained him, that my time here was over. I expected a dismissal.