LOGINThe office door opened slowly, and three men stepped inside with uneven, limping strides. Their faces were bruised, one of them with a split lip. Another held his ribs, struggling to hide the pain every time he breathed. None of them dared lift their heads too high.The spacious, dark-toned room sud
The car cut through the increasingly quiet streets of the night. City lights flashed past the windows, but Naomi didn’t see any of it. Curled up in the back seat, she wrapped both arms around herself, still trembling from head to toe. Every few breaths caught in her throat before breaking into stifl
Naomi stumbled back against the wall, gasping for breath, able only to stare with wide eyes.The man who had slapped her seized her again, yanking her close as a shield. “Don’t come any closer!”Liu looked at him without blinking. “Let her go.”“Or what?”Liu moved so fast Naomi barely saw it.In on
BANG! BANG! BANG!The pounding on the apartment door felt like a hammer striking directly against Naomi’s chest. Her fingers trembled as she held the phone to her ear, waiting for the call to connect. But before anyone could answer, she heard the sound of metal being forced from the outside. The doo
Naomi said nothing more. She walked to her unit, pushed open the apartment door, and stepped inside. Before closing it, she noticed Liu still standing in the hallway, watching until the door was fully shut and locked.The room was small, cramped, and far from comfortable, yet tonight it felt like th
“Thank you,” Naomi said, bowing her head slightly to Liu, who had escorted her home that night. Her voice was soft, nearly swallowed by the whisper of the night wind slipping through the corridor of the old apartment building where she lived. The hallway lights glowed dimly, casting long shadows acr
The next morning, Althea and Josh arrived at the prosecutor’s office under tight security. The screening procedures moved quickly, yet the tension lingered. Two attorneys accompanied them. Cameras still waited outside the building, but they managed to slip in without facing blinding lights or relent
Silence settled over the room again. Eli lowered her head even further. She wished her chair could swallow her whole. She didn’t want to hear any more of this conversation—there was no warmth, no kindness, only tension and suffocating pressure.Selena leaned back in her chair. “Fine. Perhaps I shoul
Cale exhaled slowly. “I think… we have no choice but to play along with the game that’s already been forced onto my family.”Aaron’s brow furrowed deeply. “What do you mean, sir?”“You said you have people monitoring Harold’s unusual movements, didn’t you?”“That’s correct, Mr. Cale.” Aaron still di
“Ah… this feels such a relief.”The words slipped lightly from Selena’s lips, as if they had just escaped a heavy burden—rather than the very eye of the storm that had shaken Eli’s life to its core. The girl turned her head slowly. Ever since she got into the car, she had chosen silence, her back to







