My name is Jennifer Sullivan. I'm 36 years old. And until last Thursday, I was the Lead Network Security Specialist at Vertex Technologies, a cybersecurity firm in Boston that protects some of the largest healthcare networks on the East Coast. I'd been with Vertex for eight years—eight years of building their security infrastructure from nothing but lines of code and late nights. I wasn't just an employee with keycard access. I was the backbone of their entire security protocol. The person they called when ransomware threatened a hospital's patient records at 3 AM. The person who designed the authentication system that became their selling point to cautious healthcare administrators. The person who trained every new hire on security compliance while the company grew from twelve people in a cramped office to over a hundred employees occupying three floors of prime downtown real estate. Before we jump back in, tell us where you're tuning in from, and if this story touches you, make sure you're subscribed—because tomorrow, I've saved something extra special for you! Last Thursday morning, I walked into the glass-walled meeting room expecting a routine update on our upcoming system migration. Instead, I found Brian Coleman—the CEO's son who'd joined the company exactly nine days earlier—sitting beside Lisa from HR, a woman I'd only exchanged pleasantries with in the break room. The leather portfolio on the table between them was closed. That was my first clue. "Jennifer," Brian said, straightening his tie—a gesture that felt rehearsed. "Thanks for being prompt." I settled into the chair across from them, noticing how Brian's eyes flickered to Lisa before returning to me. The room felt different—colder somehow, despite the thermostat reading the same 72 degrees it always did. "We've been reviewing the organizational structure," Brian began, his voice carrying the artificial confidence of someone reciting memorized lines. "As the new Director of IT Operations, I've identified several redundancies in our security division. We need to streamline operations to remain competitive." I almost laughed. I'd spent the last three years building a security system so comprehensive that Meridian Healthcare—a network of twelve hospitals—trusted us with their patient data. A system so robust that we'd successfully repelled two major ransomware attempts that had crippled our competitors.