The Chamber of Commerce building stood at the center of the financial district like a monument carved from restraint.
Its glass façade caught the dying light of evening and fractured it into ribbons of gold and steel across the pavement below. Traffic crawled through Cagayan de Oro’s arteries, headlights threading through dusk like quiet confessions. The city moved. The building watched.
Inside the executive conference hall, temperature and tension were equally controlled.
Polished mahogany stretched the length of the room in the form of a long conference table, its surface reflecting chandeliers shaped like restrained constellations. Leather chairs were arranged with deliberate symmetry. Bottled water stood untouched beside embossed folders.
No laughter broke the air.
No one interrup
