*Eleanor*
The silence in the clinic’s waiting room was suffocating. I sat alone, my back straight and my hands clenched together on my lap, staring at the floor. The test hadn’t even begun, but my nerves had built a fortress in my stomach. Every second dragged like hours. I kept glancing toward the hallway, waiting for the doctor to call me in.
Then my phone vibrated.
I reached for it, it was a message from Claire.
“Ma’am, please come back to the office immediately. There’s a problem.”
A cold chill ran down my spine. My fingers tightened around the phone. I quickly typed a reply. “What problem?”
“They’re in the office,” she typed back.
I blinked. “Who?”
Claire swallowed. “FIRMAC.”
My heart dropped. FIRMAC—Federal Investigation & Regulatory Management Against Corruption. They were
