Aryyah was reviewing quarterly projections in her office at Petersons International when her phone buzzed with a text from Cletus: "Can you come home early tonight? Need to talk about something important."

The message made her stomach tighten with unease; Cletus had been increasingly insistent about "important conversations" over the past week, always with an urgency that felt manufactured rather than genuine.

She arrived at the workshop at six PM instead of her usual eight, finding Cletus ...