Calm Before The Storm II

"Thank you, sir."

The words left his mouth smoothly, almost mechanically, as though they had been rehearsed. The voice of the former chairman of Switzerland's second-largest bank was steady, devoid of any tremor, yet beneath that forced composure, his entire world had collapsed.

His head hung slightly, weighed down by the crushing burden of defeat, yet his lips stretched into a hollow, practiced smile—a smile that never reached his eyes. It was a mask, a final act of dignity before he walked out of the room, leaving behind the remnants of a legacy that had taken a lifetime to build.

He had just lost everything. His business, his reputation, his purpose. All of it—gone. And for what? $3.1 billion.