**Shadow Board Betrayal**

.
Dreadhorse Chapter 20
.
Elliot Harrington sat in his expansive corner office, gazing out over the city’s skyline with a smug smile playing at the edges of his lips. As CFO of one of the nation’s most powerful conglomerates, he had spent years cultivating his reputation as a financial genius, a man untouchable by the mundane rules that governed lesser mortals. To him, the world was merely a stage, and he the master puppeteer, pulling strings with a mere flick of his wrist. Regulations, ethics, and accountability were but the playthings of those without vision.

In recent months, he had been more audacious than ever, leveraging company resources for personal gain, approving speculative projects, and cutting corners with a confidence that was both intoxicating and, unbeknownst to him, destructive. If the shareholders wanted results, Elliot proudly believed he would provide them by any means necessary. His superiors, a shadowy board of equally aloof executives, watched from the shadows, encouraging his ambition with tacit approval, ensuring he felt secure in his untouchable status.

Occasionally, Elliot would notice whispers and pointed glances exchanged among the younger, vibrant staff members—particularly around a group of bright, promising young women recently brought in under a mentorship initiative. He dismissed it as jealousy, convinced they were speculating on his success and how to emulate it themselves. They were harmless, after all, too enthralled by the glamour of the corporate world to pose any real threat.

However, unbeknownst to Elliot, these quiet observers had seen through his façade and understood the reality that lurked beneath his polished surface. Stories were quietly exchanged over lunch breaks and shared between the lines of office emails—stories that painted a picture of impropriety and impending collapse. These young women, ingeniously perceptive and perhaps a touch rebellious, recognized what even Elliot did not: he was no longer the puppet master but a puppet himself, dangling precariously on a leash of his own making.

As Elliot lounged comfortably in his office, sipping imported espresso and finalizing a multi-million-dollar deal, he was blissfully unaware that the crumbling foundation of his world was beginning to press against the surface. The board had orchestrated his rise to power not as a testament to his abilities but as a distraction—a sacrificial lamb primed for slaughter in a singular, precise stroke. They had given him enough rope, and now it tightened its hold.

A week later, an emergency meeting was called. It was theater of the cruelest sort, staged with impeccable precision. Heads bowed, the board members presented him with a dossier thick with evidence: financial discrepancies, ethical violations, a clear pattern of reckless behavior. It was a betrayal wrapped in formal tones and impenetrable jargon. “You’re to be the scapegoat, Elliot,” they said, their words final and indifferent. “The shareholders demand a sacrifice, and you’ll placate their thirst for accountability.”

A cold shiver raced down Elliot’s spine as he understood the true nature of his predicament. He had believed himself insulated from consequence, but he had merely been the architect of his demise. As realization dawned, the room seemed to close in on him, the once-firm ground beneath his feet disintegrating into quicksand.

In futile defiance, Elliot stood and attempted to project the power he no longer possessed. Heart pounding, he glared across the table, his mind racing with one desperate thought: there must be a way out. But even as he clung to this illusion of escape, understanding pooled deep within him—a slow, relentless tide pulling him under.

Elliot Harrington, the puppet-master who played his part too well, now faced an uncertain abyss as the world he once controlled crumbled, leaving only a cliff-hanger of a man who had wrapped the ropes tightly and irrevocably around himself.