You decide honesty is the best policy. You craft a carefully worded email to the all-hands distribution list clarifying that the timeline discussed with the CEO was 18 months, not 6, and that 6 months is not feasible given current resources and dependencies.
You include supporting data. You keep the tone professional and factual.
You hit send.
Within 30 seconds, your phone rings. It's HR.
Within 3 minutes, you're in a call with the CEO, the CHRO, and your manager. The CEO's face is red. "You just undermined me in front of the entire company," they say quietly. Too quietly.
"You're not a team player. We need people who are solutions-oriented, not problem-focused."
By end of day, you're walked out of the building with a cardboard box and an NDA to sign.
Project Phoenix continues without you. It fails spectacularly at month 8. But you're not there to see it.