Ashley leaned back with a relaxed smile. “That was just some company drama, all sorted now. My back’s way better, so seriously, don’t sweat it.”

She wasn’t annoyed at all. In fact, she was kind of pleased—her researchers were so locked in on their work that they hadn’t even noticed what was happening outside. That meant they were crushing it.

Still, the four of them kept staring at her with uneasy looks. One of the younger researchers mumbled, “Yeah, but… it still ...