The call went out quietly, but the effect it carried was anything but small. The kind of silence that followed wasn’t the normal kind people got used to in a busy office. This one had weight. The kind that made even confident people feel like they were walking into something they couldn’t predict. Dean didn’t sit. He stood near the center of the room, hands relaxed at his sides, posture straight but not rigid. His face gave nothing away, but his eyes were sharp, steady, and waiting. Clarice stood slightly behind him, tablet in hand, her attention split between the incoming data and the door. Philip leaned against the wall, arms folded, watching like a man who had already decided how things might end but was still open to being proven wrong. Then the door opened. Slow. Controlled. And the person stepped in. No rush. No hesitation. Just a calm walk forward that would have looked normal to anyone who didn’t understand the tension in the room. But everyone here understood. Dean’s eyes loc