The elevator doors slid open with a soft chime, and Emma stepped into a world that didn't belong to her.
Harlow & Kane Corporate Headquarters occupied the entire forty-second floor of the Meridian Building, and whoever had designed it understood power intimately — the kind that didn't need to announce itself. Everything was clean lines and dark glass, cool marble underfoot, and the low, deliberate hum of expensive air conditioning. The receptionist smiled at Emma with practiced warmth, but her eyes did a quick assessment all the same — cataloguing her thrifted sundress, her canvas tote, the paper bag of takeout containers she was carrying from her dad's favorite Thai place on Fifth.
*I'm just dropping off lunch,* Emma reminded herself, smoothing her free hand down her hip. *In and out.*
