Chapter 7: The Ties That Bind

The dim lights of the penthouse flickered as Adrian stood at the window, his cold stare cutting through the rain-slicked glass. Below, the city stretched out like a sea of lights, unfeeling and distant much like the man he had become. Sera’s voice echoed in his mind. Her words: "I’ll find out what happened, Adrian. No matter what."

He didn’t want to be found out. But something about her defied every instinct to shut her out. The pull between them raw, intense, and undeniably magnetic was a force neither of them had the power to deny.

Sera stepped into the room, her footsteps light but steady. She looked at him, her eyes flicking between the sharp angles of his face and the tortured expression he tried so hard to mask. Her presence had become a constant in his life, an unsettling comfort. But she was also a threat, the one person who could unlock the door to his past.

"I need answers, Adrian," she said, her voice firm but low, the words slipping past the walls he’d built around himself