Evening light bled slowly across the skyline, turning the glass of Stone Group’s towers into streaks of gold and fading orange. My office, still cluttered with reports and half-signed documents, felt unusually quiet. Almost too quiet. The kind of silence that nudges your thoughts into corners you’ve tried to seal off.

I shut my laptop, rubbing my eyes. Elijah would be here soon. Marga, probably bouncing with excitement for dinner. I needed to take a breath, fix my hair, put away the ...