“No leadership framework?”
“No.”
“No quarterly review?”
“No.”
Richard shook his head.
“You could charge consultants a fortune for that.”
“Maybe that’s why they make it more complicated.”
Daniel walked beside him toward the elevators.
At the lobby, Richard stopped.
“Daniel.”
“Yes?”
“For what it’s worth, I’m glad you came back.”
Daniel considered correcting him.
He had not come back in the way Richard meant.
He was not president.
Not savior.
Not the man making every decision.
Then he realized that was exactly why the sentence worked.
“So am I.”
Outside, the late-afternoon sun reflected gold across the building’s windows.
Daniel walked toward his car.
He slipped one hand into his pocket and felt the silver watch.
For an instant he could hear Margaret as clearly as if she were walking beside him.
You’re always working.
He smiled.
“Not anymore.”
He looked back.
Lights glowed inside Mercer Industrial.
People were still working.
Someone laughed near the loading dock.
A forklift moved through the warehouse.
And for the first time in years, Daniel did not feel like the owner of the company.
He felt like one of the people who belonged there.
That difference mattered.
Ownership could be recorded on paper.
Belonging had to be earned repeatedly.
Daniel drove home.
The house was quiet when he entered.