“Michael?” one of his partners said, confused.
But he was already grabbing his jacket, already walking out.
For the first time in his career, he left a critical meeting without a word of explanation.
Because somewhere across the city, his daughter was in pain—and no deal, no contract, no amount of money could compete with that.
The drive home felt endless.
Traffic lights turned red at the worst moments. Cars crawled forward like time itself had slowed down just to test him.
Every second stretched painfully.
His mind raced faster than the car.
Images of Emily flooded his thoughts—her laugh, the way she used to run barefoot through their backyard, the way she would jump into his arms when he came home… back when he used to come home earlier.
Lately, it had been different.
Late nights. Missed dinners. Quick goodnight kisses while she was already half asleep.
“I’ll make it up this weekend,” he had told himself more times than he could count.
But weekends had come and gone.
And now she was hurting.
“Hold on, baby…” he whispered under his breath, gripping the steering wheel. “Daddy’s coming. Just hold on…”
When he finally reached home, he didn’t even close the car door properly.