Chapter 29: Step One: Animal Clothes

Chapter 29: Step One: Animal Clothes

I tightened my grip on the stylus, the cool metal steadying my nerves as I tapped it against the smartboard a few times. The sharp clicks bounced around Hellen’s corner office, where morning light poured through floor‑to‑ceiling windows and stretched long across the polished oak conference table.

Coffee mugs, rolled factory blueprints, and half‑eaten pastries from our rushed breakfast cluttered the surface, the room smelling faintly of espresso and sugar. I was dressed in fitted black pants and a crisp emerald blouse that hugged my curves, my raven hair tied back in a loose ponytail that swung with each step. My focus stayed locked on Hellen.

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