ian

op five floors of a glass skyscraper in the center of the city. I stepped o

sident's card was still active in the legacy system. She retained independent approval authority under the old protocols, a privilege you gr

moon with Celeste, the gears of our familie

egs crossed, peeling an orange with careful, deliberate movements that spoke of a profound sense of ownership. Julian was stretched out besi

n Persian rug. "Are you done with your little tantrum?" she asked, pulling a slice o

g. "I am just a burden. I told Elena not to worry about me, but s

thing to apologize for. Lucian used that fake wedding video to intentionally tr

e commodity, and I saw at once that nei

air. I picked up a pen and opened a financial dossier. The old, familiar burning coiled in my stomach-a

flat, not lifting my eyes from the paper.

g the fruit on the glass coffee table. She marched up to my desk, slamming her hands down on the polished wood. "I need the k

page of the d

eria creeping in. "You built that house for us! Julian cannot ha

ottom of the document with a steady hand. "

. He fell back against the sofa cushions, breathing rapidly. "My heart," Julian choked out,

ack to him, rubbing his shoulders. "Bre

y plastic folder from the coffee table and hurled it at my face. I tilted my head.

poke clearly into the microphone. "Escort the unauthorized perso

"You are calling your soldiers on m

the immaculate room. It was a relic from my days as a street soldier, living in damp basements, fighting with knives to survive. I had kept it close beca

she moved. "Don't," I warned, my voi

sneer. "You care more about your stupid mafia pride and this piece of junk

all, mocking smile flashed across his pale lips before he hid it behind his mask of agony. In that flicker of expression, I saw wh

'm panicking," Julian whi

tal splitting along a seam that had held for decades. The key inside skidd

ness. "Oh, no. My hands are shaking so badly from the panic attack.

reduced to scrap by a man who had never lifted a finger for anyo

d no idea that while they were breaking trinkets, I had

curity enforcers stepped inside, their

met her eyes for the first time that day, "-next time you breach my security

. For the first time in five years,

ls-loud, theatrical, and utterly unconvincing. I did not bother to watch them go. I was already c