Ava stared at the digital analog clock on the wall near her office door.
2:45 PM, it read.
But the ticking—if it even ticked—sounded deafening in her mind.
Her arms were wrapped tightly around herself, as if she could physically hold the pieces of her day together. The room was silent, the air conditioning a soft whisper against the glass, but her head roared with thoughts. Everything felt muted, like she was watching herself from behind soundproof glass.
She sighed, but even her breath felt heavy.
The day wasn't even over—and already, everything had shifted.
Her chest ached in a strange way, like her emotions were held in by a dam built on faulty bricks. She'd only been inside Shen's building for ninety minutes. A single hour and a half. Yet when she walked out of that chamber, it was as though someone else had stepped out with her—some shadow of herself she didn't even recognize.
Shen hadn't said much.
That was the worst part. The most terrifying part.
He didn't need to.
