Chapter 27 – Familiar Strangers

POV: Lucian Voss

There’s something I’ve always respected more than loud voices or angry words.

Silence.

Not the kind you get when the power goes out or when a room empties suddenly. I mean real silence—the kind that settles deep into your bones and makes every breath feel louder than it should. The kind of silence that doesn’t beg for attention… it demands it. It walks into a room and takes control without saying a single word.

That’s the kind of silence I stood in now.

My office was almost completely dark, except for the dim light spilling from the corner lamp and the soft glow of the city skyline beyond the windows. It was well past working hours. Everyone had gone home—assistants, analysts, board members. The whole building had turned quiet, but I stayed.

Because I couldn’t leave.

Because something wasn’t right.

I stood near my desk, holding a small flash drive between my fingers. I kept turning it over and over, my thumb sliding across its smooth edges again and again, almost like