Cole’s POV

I step out of the elevator, shoulders stiff, body tense, the weight of the day clinging to me like a second skin. The numbers, the timelines, Elena’s sharp focus, they replay in my mind, demanding. But then, I hear it. A sound that halts everything: children laughing. Two little voices, full of life, urgent and playful, carrying through the hall in a way that makes my chest tighten without warning.

There’s a woman’s voice too, calm, measured, coaxing, but light in a way I ...