Chapter 4: The Ignorant Silence

👉 Previous Decision: Director Davenport revoked your console credentials and had you escorted out of the building.

The drive home was a blur of flashing streetlights and a sickening thud in my chest. Twenty minutes. Every second was an eternity. My hands clenched on the steering wheel, knuckles white.

I screeched to a halt in my driveway. The porch light was off. The front door stood ajar, a dark, gaping mouth against the pale glow of the streetlamp.

I burst through, calling Leo’s name. The house was silent. Too silent. A lamp lay toppled in the living room, its shade askew. Papers were scattered across the floor, and couch cushions lay on their sides. My heart hammered against my ribs.

“Leo!” I yelled again, my voice cracking.

A small sound, a faint rustle, came from the basement stairwell. I peered down, my vision blurring in the dim light. Leo’s head emerged, his eyes wide and scared.

“Mom?” he whispered, relief flooding his face. “I heard a sound… I went to the basement.”

I stumbled down, pulling him into a tight embrace, feeling the frantic beat of his heart against mine. He was safe. Physically safe.

But as I looked around the ransacked basement, the utility closet door hanging open, the empty space where my external hard drives used to be, a cold dread settled over me. They hadn’t wanted valuables. They’d wanted my files. My CAD audit logs.

A letter arrived days later: my CAD license was permanently revoked, citing gross insubordination and endangering public safety. Davenport’s corruption remained hidden, cloaked by the bureaucratic silence. I would never know for sure who had entered my home, or what other secrets they might have taken. The system had swallowed the truth whole.