The Intern Who Stayed After Midnight

A strategist was talking about resilience. Ethan muted the screen. For the first time since arriving in New York, he felt no envy toward the men in tailored suits or the women who moved through the floor with phones pressed to their ears and risk in their voices. He did not belong to their world yet, but he had touched the wire underneath it. Money moved because someone knew, someone believed, someone needed, and someone was trapped. Ethan opened a new spreadsheet. He named it "Traps."