To the Morrison family, I was merely the inconvenient, pregnant ex-wife—a woman to be tolerated, mocked, and eventually discarded part1

Diane’s smirk weakened. Jessica lowered her glass. Brendan’s eyes narrowed, searching my face for the punchline he desperately needed to exist.

Arthur was silent for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice had dropped. “Cassidy, if I do that, the Morrisons could lose everything. Are you certain?”

Brendan pushed back from the table. “What is Protocol Seven?”

I did not look away from him.

Protocol Seven was not a bluff. It was the clause I had drafted during the divorce, the one designed to protect the company from reckless executive abuse