Before I could hand him the paper, the landline phone on Liam’s desk began to ring.

The sharp, loud bell shattered the silence of the office.

Liam paused, looking at the blinking line on his console.

It was his private security line from the lobby downstairs.

He reached out and pressed the speaker button.

“Vance here,” Liam said.

“Sir, we have a situation,” the security guard’s voice came through, tense and hurried. “There is someone in the building. They bypassed the main lobby elevators.”

Suddenly, the lights in the office flickered and died, plunging us into complete darkness.

The silence in the room grew heavy.

The city lights outside the window cast faint, grey shadows across the desk.

I squeezed the paper in my hand, the dry parchment crinkling under my fingers.

“Audrey, stay where you are,” Liam’s voice came from the darkness, low and steady.

I heard the leather of his chair creak as he stood up.

My heart hammered against my ribs.

“Liam, the policy,” I whispered, my voice barely carrying across the room. “She didn’t just forge my signature for a small payout.”