MasukChapter 30.The music had grown softer by the time Skye finally found the courage to step inside. The clubhouse, once overflowing with laughter and celebration, had begun to empty, and half the tables had already been cleared. Empty glasses sat forgotten beside discarded paper decorations, while several club members lingered near the bar, talking quietly as the night slowly wound down.The room looked beautiful, painfully so. Photographs lined every wall, her photographs. The icy lake, the snowfall beneath the streetlamp, the bustling night market, the warm glow of the fireplace, the garage. Every memory she'd created with Kai had been carefully framed and displayed, and it transformed the once-rugged clubhouse into something that looked more like an art exhibition than a biker hangout or graduation party as Axel’s invitation stated.She turned slowly, taking it all in. "He... did all this?" The realization settled heavily in her chest, because this hadn't been Axel's party, not real
Chapter 29.One moment Kai had been standing in front of Skye, listening to explanations his wounded pride refused to process, and the next his feet had carried him through the side hallway of the clubhouse and into the quieter wing where the ways overlooked the offices.The music from the party was little more than a dull thump through the walls, and he welcomed the silence. He planted both hands on the windowsill and stared into the darkness, his jaw clenched so tightly it hurt.He had spent weeks planning tonight, not because anyone had asked him to or because he owed her anything, but simply because he'd wanted to see her smile. He remembered arguing with florists over flowers he couldn't tell apart, remembered club members laughing until tears rolled down their faces because Kai Sturm was comparing tablecloth colors, and remembered spending an hour choosing which photographs belonged on which wall because he wanted the room to tell her story, not his. Tonight was supposed to be
Chapter 28"You're kidding." Skye shook her head, now smiling. "I seriously can't believe you're back."Neither could Julian Becker. A year ago he'd transferred to a photography institute in New York after winning an international scholarship, everyone at the academy had talked about him for months. Now he stood in front of her as though no time had passed at all."I only got back this morning." Julian replied with a smile."What are you doing back in Germany?""My sister's getting married." He shrugged. "And Professor Hoffmann practically ordered me to stop by the academy while I was here."Skye laughed. "That sounds like her."Julian smiled. "I heard you've been making everyone look bad."She blinked. "What?""Hoffmann couldn't stop talking about your charity calendar." Heat crept into her cheeks. "And believe it or not," he lowered his voice conspiratorially, "even Vogel praised it."Skye stared. "Professor Vogel?""I know." Julian laughed. "I nearly fainted too.""He praised my w
Chapter 27.The editing studio no longer resembled a classroom. It resembled a battlefield but Skye barely noticed any of it. Her eyes burned from staring at photographs for so many hours that every image had begun to blur together."Page fourteen..." she muttered under her breath. "No... page fourteen was better before." She dragged another file into the layout, deleted it, added another, deleted that one too.Her new supervising editor, Professor Hoffmann, stood quietly behind her chair with a tablet tucked under one arm. Unlike Professor Vogel, the woman didn't bark criticism or enjoy watching students squirm. She simply watched the work with sharp, experienced eyes. After several moments, she nodded. "I've reviewed the entire calendar."Skye slowly turned around. Professor Hoffmann adjusted her glasses and offered something Skye hadn't expected. "You've done excellent work."For a second Skye genuinely wondered if she'd misheard. "Excuse me?""I said you've done excellent work."
Chapter 26.Kai Sturm had never understood why people made such a fuss about celebrations. Birthdays, anniversaries, promotions, holidays… to him they'd always been noisy interruptions to otherwise productive days, requiring decorations, speeches, photographs no one would look at twice, and conversations with people pretending to enjoy themselves. If something deserved celebrating, he believed it should be acknowledged with a firm handshake and everyone should return to work.It had been a philosophy that served him well for years, well, until Skye.Now, standing in the middle of his private club before sunrise, staring at an empty room that somehow refused to resemble the picture in his head, Kai found himself irritated over the placement of flowers.Flowers. He looked at them for a long moment before pointing toward the nearest club member. "They're wrong."The young biker arranging them blinked. "Wrong?""They're too neat."The man looked completely lost. "They're flowers, they're
Chapter 25.The Sturm garage had always run like clockwork. Engines were tuned before sunrise, parts returned to their exact shelves, coffee brewed before anyone thought to ask for it. And Kai Sturm was never late, which was precisely why every conversation in the garage ground to a halt the moment the metal doors rolled open nearly twenty minutes after everyone else had arrived.Several mechanics exchanged confused looks. One rider even checked his watch. "Did the clock break?" someone muttered. "I think the apocalypse is coming," another whispered.Axel leaned comfortably against a workbench, arms folded, wearing the grin of someone who'd just been handed ammunition. When Kai finally strode inside, helmet tucked under one arm and his usual unreadable expression firmly in place, Axel clapped slowly. "Look who decided to join us."Kai barely looked at him. "I was busy.""You? Late?" Axel feigned horror."It happens.""It literally doesn't." Several of the older riders nodded in agree







