Chapter 8: The Cost of Emptiness

Adrián Castell’s inbox pulsed with a new notification just as the system clock hit 6:26 p.m.

He had been buried in his glass-walled office on the twenty-third floor for hours. He hadn’t spoken to a soul all day. The overhead lights were off; the only light came from the dull glow of his monitor and the weak flicker of a desk lamp on the verge of burning out.

Before him lay a battlefield: open folders, financial reports, and graphs plunging like blades—simulat