The first sign of collapse was silence.
Not panic. Not shouting. Silence.
The executive boardroom of Blackwood Industries sat forty floors above the city, wrapped in glass and authority, yet that morning the air felt heavy enough to suffocate in. Assistants moved carefully along the walls, placing tablets and financial reports before directors who barely looked at them.
Every screen displayed the same headline.
BLACKWOOD FIRE COVER-UP ALLEGATIONS SHAKE INVESTOR CONFIDENCE
Stock indicators flickered red along the lower edges.
Down three percent at opening.
Then five.
Then eight.
The room understood what that meant long before analysts said it aloud.
Fear had entered the market.
And fear spread faster than truth.
Damian Blackwood entered without an entourage, his presence cutting
