Six months earlier, Ethan Miller was just another overqualified, overworked analyst in an underlit office at Vertex Solutions—a consulting firm that worshipped PPTs more than people. His job was to translate chaos into charts, reality into jargon, and overtime into “collaborative excellence.” Nobody really noticed his work unless something broke.
His manager, Brad Collins, was everything Ethan wasn’t—loud, tan in winter, and constantly holding a reusable cup he never actually drank from. Brad’s calendar was a monument to performative show: “Leadership Sync,” “Vision Mapping,” “Lunch with CEO.” He never stayed long enough to finish any of them.