ELORA

Nothing about the office interested me anymore.

Not the sleek glass windows that once felt like a dream, not the quiet humming of keyboards, or the steady rhythm of people walking through the pristine hallways in overpriced shoes. I sat at my desk, staring blankly at the screen in front of me, but all my thoughts were back at the hospital. My father. My mother. Home.

That was all that mattered.

Rowen had returned from the board meeting ahead of me, disappearing straight into his office with guests I didn’t recognize. Suits, mostly. Older men with tight faces and briefcases that looked like they carried nuclear launch codes. I...