"Everything looks in order, Elias," Marcus said, his voice smooth as oil. "Sign on the dotted line, and we can all go to lunch."
Elias looked at the "Exit Strategy" clause. It promised him wealth, but it guaranteed the termination of three hundred employees—people who had worked in his garage when the company was just a dream. He thought of Sarah in accounting, who was putting her son through college, and Mike in the warehouse, who had just bought his first home. Don’t get the deal
Change the (e.g., a gritty underworld deal or a high-stakes sports trade). Focus on the aftermath of his decision a year later. "Everything looks in order, Elias," Marcus said, his