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***POV: Hazel***

She doesn’t pull back. The razor-sharp silence stretches tight between us, but Councilwoman Sinclair stays planted at the edge of my desk. Her breath comes in harsh, jagged pulls, stirring the stray papers near my keyboard. She digs her manicured fingernails into the marble top, the sound a faint, irritating click-clack that echoes in the sudden quiet of the reception area.

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