Aria's POV
The phone slipped from my fingers, clattering onto the mahogany desk with a sound that seemed too loud in the suddenly suffocating silence of my office. My legs started moving without conscious thought, pacing back and forth across the Persian rug, wearing a path between the window and the bookshelf. Each step felt mechanical, disconnected from my body, like I was watching myself from somewhere far away.
Tears streamed down my face, hot and unstoppable, blurring my vision until the office became nothing but smeared shapes and colors. My hands were shaking so violently I had to clench them into fists, my nails digging crescents into my palms just to feel something real, something solid.
"Ma'am, please calm down." Sarah's voice cut through the roaring in my ears as she quickly
