nt to overhear

p an eye on her from the periphery. It wasn't his first surveillance not even his fiftieth. He told h

and unrelenting

ed corridors, decorated with modern art and old money. The kind of place

th low foot traffic, but a voice one he knew from interviews, press

ne. "The President has agreed. He'll make the announcement a

ulpture cast a jagged shadow beside him. The conversation floated from an open archw

econd voice warmer but sharper. "She'll adapt. She always

te's

er-of-the-year press clippings. Always smiling in publ

ry hit Rafe li

didn't even notice the champagne g

Pres

Ar

de

he Arayas were pulling strings behind the scenes whispers of campaign donations

th

iage a

re sell

lias's future, they're

g hands at the hospital. The empty hospital room after they unplugged Elias's machines. T

with mor

e name

til it hurt. His entir

was one thought,

e kn

-

Night – Raf

ur throat. No music. No television. Just the low hum of the city be

dows across the room, its golden glow doing

him. Bourbon. A gift from a c

n't dr

n of his laptop. Article after article

wn for his clean reputation, philanthropic

d his engagement with Emilia Varga, a journalist with ambitions

ossip wen

rumored to have placed pressure on Del Castillo's inner circle." "Unconfirmed: a strategic mar

ds balled

people like stocks. Like chess pieces. One

the sound echoing through

eels of his palm

ust about E

gger. Rotte

s a willing part of it or

-

k – Rafe

es too big because it was the only one the family owned. He remembered the sound of his mother's sobs at night w

the Arayas' daughter gave interviews on her med sch

died that year, t

orld kept

long, he pro

V – That

the box from u

labeled in his precise, angular handwri

d pieced together from a janitor with a grudge. Names of trustees on the Araya M

'd add one

– Strategic

whispered into the empty room, "t

ng. He'd gather everything. Records. Wi

he'd make them watch as

ile –

a gown she hadn't chosen, staring at herself in

, laughed too softly, and nodded through too many

as wrong. D

ed. They'd spoken in vague affirmations all eve

seemed to know som

r skin still felt tight, like she'd been sealed in plasti

hought

n't talk to he

re never meant to contr

este Araya the daughter,

just...

her phone and

e: You

to

hone

on screen like

, at her name,

ow, he thought. Walk

teel table in the hospital. The I

a slow

h. You wa

etend a lit

enough to

reak

ybe break himsel