LOGINLEO 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
SELENEThe bass hit me the second I pushed through the doors.It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t polite. It slammed into my chest like it was mad at me for even breathing. The room was dark but full of flashing lights. Red. Blue. Purple. Faces came and went. Bodies moved close to each other, sweaty, loud,
ADRIEN I shoved forward before my brain could catch up with what my body was already doing. “Selene.” My voice got swallowed the second it left my mouth. The room was too loud. Too bright. Too full of people who did not matter. Someone grabbed my arm. “Adrien, darling, that speech was—” “N
SELENEI kept walking.I heard him call my name the first time, sharp and clear, cutting through the noise behind me.“Selene.”My steps didn’t slow.I heard it again, closer now. Faster. Like he was already moving.“Selene, wait.”His voice followed me down the hall, echoing between the walls, mix
*********Selene didn’t slow down as she crossed the last stretch of the room.Adrien noticed her a second too late.He turned just as she stopped in front of them, her face tight, eyes bright with something sharp and uncontained. He opened his mouth instinctively.“Selene—”“Is this what you were







