Se connecterLEO I arrived earlier than usual that morning. Not because anyone asked me to. Not because I had to. I just woke up already alert, already dressed, already aware that something had shifted overnight and I didn’t want to be late to it. The parking lot was almost empty when I pulled in. A few executive cars. A couple of staff. Quiet, clean, controlled. Then I saw Adrien’s car. It was already moving. Backing out of its spot, smooth and slow like always. Same black car he’d driven for years. Same one everyone associated with him. I stayed still in my own car and watched it pass in front of me. He didn’t look my way. Maybe he didn’t see me. Maybe he did and chose not to. Either way, he drove out of the lot without hesitation. No pause. No second glance. Just… gone. I sat there for a few seconds longer than I needed to. This was supposed to be gradual. That had always been the plan in my head. Slow. Subtle. A few projects here and there. More meetings. More presence. Time. I d
LEO I arrived earlier than usual that morning. Not because anyone asked me to. Not because I had to. I just woke up already alert, already dressed, already aware that something had shifted overnight and I didn’t want to be late to it. The parking lot was almost empty when I pulled in. A few executive cars. A couple of staff. Quiet, clean, controlled. Then I saw Adrien’s car. It was already moving. Backing out of its spot, smooth and slow like always. Same black car he’d driven for years. Same one everyone associated with him. I stayed still in my own car and watched it pass in front of me. He didn’t look my way. Maybe he didn’t see me. Maybe he did and chose not to. Either way, he drove out of the lot without hesitation. No pause. No second glance. Just… gone. I sat there for a few seconds longer than I needed to. This was supposed to be gradual. That had always been the plan in my head. Slow. Subtle. A few projects here and there. More meetings. More presence. Time. I d
LEO I arrived earlier than usual that morning. Not because anyone asked me to. Not because I had to. I just woke up already alert, already dressed, already aware that something had shifted overnight and I didn’t want to be late to it. The parking lot was almost empty when I pulled in. A few executive cars. A couple of staff. Quiet, clean, controlled. Then I saw Adrien’s car. It was already moving. Backing out of its spot, smooth and slow like always. Same black car he’d driven for years. Same one everyone associated with him. I stayed still in my own car and watched it pass in front of me. He didn’t look my way. Maybe he didn’t see me. Maybe he did and chose not to. Either way, he drove out of the lot without hesitation. No pause. No second glance. Just… gone. I sat there for a few seconds longer than I needed to. This was supposed to be gradual. That had always been the plan in my head. Slow. Subtle. A few projects here and there. More meetings. More presence. Time. I d
LEO I arrived earlier than usual that morning. Not because anyone asked me to. Not because I had to. I just woke up already alert, already dressed, already aware that something had shifted overnight and I didn’t want to be late to it. The parking lot was almost empty when I pulled in. A few executive cars. A couple of staff. Quiet, clean, controlled. Then I saw Adrien’s car. It was already moving. Backing out of its spot, smooth and slow like always. Same black car he’d driven for years. Same one everyone associated with him. I stayed still in my own car and watched it pass in front of me. He didn’t look my way. Maybe he didn’t see me. Maybe he did and chose not to. Either way, he drove out of the lot without hesitation. No pause. No second glance. Just… gone. I sat there for a few seconds longer than I needed to. This was supposed to be gradual. That had always been the plan in my head. Slow. Subtle. A few projects here and there. More meetings. More presence. Time. I d
LEO I arrived earlier than usual that morning. Not because anyone asked me to. Not because I had to. I just woke up already alert, already dressed, already aware that something had shifted overnight and I didn’t want to be late to it. The parking lot was almost empty when I pulled in. A few executive cars. A couple of staff. Quiet, clean, controlled. Then I saw Adrien’s car. It was already moving. Backing out of its spot, smooth and slow like always. Same black car he’d driven for years. Same one everyone associated with him. I stayed still in my own car and watched it pass in front of me. He didn’t look my way. Maybe he didn’t see me. Maybe he did and chose not to. Either way, he drove out of the lot without hesitation. No pause. No second glance. Just… gone. I sat there for a few seconds longer than I needed to. This was supposed to be gradual. That had always been the plan in my head. Slow. Subtle. A few projects here and there. More meetings. More presence. Time. I d
********Luzzaru’s office was loud and busy as usual.Three monitors on his main desk. Two more mounted on the wall. One tablet propped beside his keyboard. Clips looping. Headlines refreshing. Numbers ticking up and down in real time.He leaned back in his chair, phone in one hand, coffee in the other, smiling at something one of his editors had just sent him.“Run it again,” he said into his headset. “The angle where he turns his head. That one gets reactions.”A voice replied through his ear. “We already cut three versions.”“Cut four,” Luzzaru said. “People like options.”He sipped his coffee, eyes still on the main screen. Selene’s face froze mid-frame. A still from the club video. The one everyone knew now.“God, this thing’s gold,” he muttered.His phone buzzed on the desk.He glanced at it, annoyed at the interruption. Unknown number. Private line.He answered anyway.“Luzzaru speaking.”The voice on the other end was calm. Flat. Not rushed.“Good afternoon, Mr. Luzzaru. My na
********The car pulled into the driveway in silence.No music played. No words were shared. Only the low sound of the engine rolled through the quiet street before it cut off.Adrien stayed still for a moment after the car stopped. Selene did too. Neither of them moved right away. The night felt h
SELENEWhen I opened my eyes, the sun had already pushed its way past the curtains, spilling quiet light across the room. For a second, I just lay there, staring up at the ceiling. Everything was still. No movement, no sound, not even the usual distant echo of the staff going about their business.
SELENEThe silence in the car was unbearable, thick with tension so palpable I felt like I was suffocating. I stared out the window, the world outside a blur as I tried to keep myself together. My heart pounded relentlessly, my chest tight with a storm of emotions I couldn’t untangle. Adrien sat be
SELENEThe ride home was quiet, the kind of silence that felt oppressive. I sat stiffly, my hands folded in my lap, staring out the window as the city lights blurred into streaks of gold and white.The depressing thoughts settled in my chest like a heavy weight. I clenched my fists, nails biting in







