The entire office was silent—so silent that even the hum of the air conditioner felt loud. Nobody moved, nobody breathed too deeply. Every senior officer in the room sat stiff, eyes lowered, waiting.
The door opened.
Thomas walked in with a heavy, unreadable expression. His usually calm face was tight with anger. He didn't greet anyone, didn't nod, didn't blink. He simply walked to his seat, sat down, and looked around slowly.
The air tightened.
"I am highly disappointed in all of you," Thomas said, his voice cutting through the room like a blade. "How can this even be possible? Eh?"
Nobody replied. They couldn't. The pressure in his tone alone was enough to choke the room.
Thomas picked up a thick brown envelope and dropped it hard on the table. Papers scattered—lab reports, formulas, lists, evidence, timelines. Some pages slid all the way to the edge of the long conference table.
