Chapter 9 - The New DawnThree months later, the lobby of Laurent Enterprises looked entirely different.
Gone were the cold, imposing marble pillars and the intimidating security checkpoints that treated working-class people like trespassers. In their place stood an open, sunlit atrium filled with living green walls, a public community café, and a plaque mounted near the grand elevators dedicated to the memory of David Evans and all honest workers.
Up on the seventy-first floor, the executive boardroom had been redesigned. The massive walnut table was gone, replaced by a circular glass desk designed to encourage open discussion rather than top-down intimidation.
Thomas Laurent sat at his desk, reviewing the morning's philanthropic outreach initiatives—a new program providing housing grants and college funds for the families of service and maintenance workers across the city.
The private elevator chime pinged.
The door slid open, and in walked a boy wearing a slightly too-large suit jacket over a crisp white shirt, carrying a battered backpack and a well-loved teddy bear whose patches had been reinforced with shiny golden thread.
"Good morning, President Laurent," Lucas announced formally, marching right up to the desk and placing a fresh plastic box of coins—precisely three dollars and fifty cents—right where the old one had sat months ago.
Thomas looked up, raising an eyebrow. "And what is this capital investment for today, Mr. Evans?"
"I want to buy your chair for five minutes," Lucas said deadpan. "I want to see what the city looks like from up here when nobody is crying."
Thomas let out a deep, booming laugh—a sound the top floor of Laurent Enterprises had never heard in its entire corporate history. He stood up from his leather executive chair, walked around the desk, and gestured grandly toward it.
"Be my guest, CEO Lucas," Thomas smiled, stepping aside. "Take the seat. You earned it."
Lucas climbed up into the heavy leather chair, his feet dangling several inches above the floor. He rested his elbows on the polished glass, clutched Mr. Buttons tightly in his lap, and stared out through the massive glass windows at the sprawling, golden metropolis shining beneath the morning sun.
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For the first time in his life, the city didn't look like a collection of cold numbers, steel towers, or towering walls of wealth.
It looked like home.
