I could tell the day would be trouble from the moment I opened the office door. There was a weight in the air, not loud or urgent, but thick and quiet, like something had been waiting patiently for us to notice.

Julian was already inside, his sleeves rolled past his elbows, glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, and the morning light pooling across the table he had covered in contracts and spreadsheets. He didn’t look up when I walked in. His brow was tense, and his lips were pressed in ...