Mara had never been inside a building like Hale Dynamics. The glass tower rose above the city like it had been carved out of cold ambition and quiet threats. It was the kind of place where people whispered in the halls, where assistants walked faster than normal, where the air tasted like power and secrecy. Mara should have turned around the moment she stepped inside. She felt it in her stomach, that sharp twist that warned her she was walking into something she was not prepared for. But she needed the job. She needed money. She needed a chance to stop drowning.
The receptionist directed her to the top floor. No elevator button. No card. Just a quiet escort who refused to look Mara in the eye, like even her presence on that floor carried risks. When the elevator opened, she stepped into a
