The office was quiet when Alyssa stayed behind that evening, long after most of the staff had gone home. The soft glow of her desk lamp cast a warm circle around her, leaving the rest of the room in muted twilight. She needed the silence — not for comfort, but for clarity. The day’s whispers still lingered in her mind, thin as smoke and twice as irritating.

She opened her laptop, breathing slowly as she clicked through folders she hadn’t touched in months. Proposals, drafts, archived correspondence — all the forgotten remnants of past work. Most of it was tedious, but Alyssa wasn’t looking for something obvious. She was searching...