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something else, but hating it? That wasn’t her.

Right now, she truly detested the week she’d had. She was angry

that Michelle thought it was okay to overload her like that. She was

grouchy that half the meetings had been utterly pointless wastes of time.

There should have been a better screening process in place. She supposed

she was the screener. The businesses that did have potential were all

basically ones that would just make piles of money and not do a single

thing to give back to anyone.

Christina remembered that back when she’d first started, she really did

want to make a difference and not just in the way that pushing a file through

and getting someone funding made. She’d wanted to find those businesses

that were unique and would change the world for the better. She’d lost that

motivation quickly. It had been ground out of her over time. They weren’t

in the business of doing good deeds. Taylor’s idea was a one-off. They were

in the business of making money through helping other people to make

money.

It was depressing to realize how far she’d strayed from her ideal. When

she started, she’d had goals. One day, she wanted to be running her own

firm. She wanted to help people the way that Taylor had been helped.

People who had a great idea and might not get funding anywhere else.

People who were good people. People who changed their town, their city,

their community, and maybe even a larger area like their state or their

country, for the better. People who enriched the lives of everyone they

touched.

Christina eyed the files for a few more minutes. She didn’t grab another

one, open it up, and start. Instead, she just sat there thinking.

She barely even knew what she was doing when she shoved her chair

back and grabbed her purse. She threw in her phone, then shoved her laptop

and all the files from her desk into the cupboards in her work area. She

locked them, stared at the empty space she’d created, and took a steadying