The office had shifted. Conversations were clipped, glances sharper, and Isadora's absence was no longer treated with sympathy but suspicion. Camille was the loudest voice in that suspicion.
"Oh please she is just hiding," Camille said, her tone casual, as if it were fact. "She doesn't want anyone to know she failed big time, so she is pretending to be sick or in a coma or whatever."
Her words carried quickly. Some believed, eager to turn irritation into blame. Others hesitated, skeptical but silent, unwilling to challenge her growing influence.
