When I didn't rise to the bait, the ridicule on her face faded. Replaced by bored magnanimity. She beckoned me over, her tone softening into something patronizing.
"Alright, look. I know you're upset, but Max is different—he's sensitive. He's a newcomer to the workplace. He messed up a major project, and then you went and spread that photo. How do you expect him to show his face in the company now?"
A sigh. The benevolent peacekeeper.
"Let's consider the matter settled. Sign this document, and I'll pretend none of this happened."
She lifted a folder from the coffee table. Held it out.
I took it.
The bold black title stabbed at my eyes.
**Company Equity Transfer Agreement.**
My name, printed clearly under "Transferor."
Under "Transferee," three words in stark relief: **Max Pruitt.**
Jade's voice droned on, laced with sickening charity.
"At the end of the day, you wronged Max. Treat this equity as compensation. Andrew, this is what you owe him."
*I owe him?*
I looked at the woman before me—a face I once knew better than my own—and saw a stranger.
I didn't argue. There was no point.