The glass walls of the cabin muted the rest of the office, but not the weight of expectation pressing down on my shoulders. The long conference table was occupied—department heads, senior officials, project leads—faces I’d known for years, some longer than I cared to remember. Files lay open. Screens glowed with projections and figures. Voices filled the space with updates, timelines, and projections.

At the head of the table sat Naina.