I stood in front of that office, my hands clenched, my heart pounding like it was trying to break out of my chest.

Outside, the world blurred. I couldn't hear my own footsteps or the low hum of people passing by. Nothing existed except that door, that threshold that felt like a line between my reality and the edge of everything I feared.

That's when the new assistant appeared. Tall, elegant, wearing a soft, practiced smile that looked almost too perfect.

"You can go in. Mr. Sterling is exp