Elena’s POV

The call came just after eight, crisp and formal, the kind of tone auditors use when they’ve found something that isn’t supposed to exist. By the time I arrive at Whitmore Industries, the corridors feel too quiet, the silence thick with the anticipation that always comes before something breaks. My assistant couldn’t meet my eyes when she handed me the folder marked URGENT: Financial Review, and I already knew then that whatever waited in that room upstairs wasn’t going to ...