#Chapter 54: The Safer Choice

Emily I returned to my desk the next morning with the quiet determination of someone trying not to be watched. The halls were as polished and orderly as ever, but something in the air had shifted. Nothing was obvious, something just felt… off. Whispers didn’t carry far, but they didn’t need to. The silence said enough. I moved through the outer offices like I always did—tablet in hand, head high—but the conversations didn’t resume as I passed. Two junior analysts nodded too quickly. Someone in HR gave me a smile that was just a little too tight. And Carla, of course, was nowhere to be seen. I knew what this was. Rumors. Another recycled tabloid headline that blurred the line between speculation and sabotage. Another fresh layer of humiliation for them to peel apart and analyze like I wasn’t still standing right there. In the quiet of my office, I tried to breathe past the heat rising in my chest. The desk was still mine. The titles still mine. The work still mine.