Elena Cruz learned that morning that silence could be crueler than a scream. The lesson began before the clock struck eight-thirty, when the elevator stopped on the executive floor and the air seemed to grow heavier. No one spoke. No one smiled. No one made the slightest effort to conceal the tension that hung like an invisible shadow. Elena stepped out of the elevator with measured steps, aware of every glance that avoided hers. She adjusted the strap of her purse, as if that gesture could giv