เข้าสู่ระบบRONAN'S POVAfter Elara left, I stayed in the restaurant. My food was cold, the coffee was bitter, and I wasn't ready to go home. I sat there for a long time, watching the street outside get darker, listening to the clatter of dishes from the kitchen. The place emptied out slowly. People paid their bills and walked out into the night. The door chimed every time someone left or entered, a small, cheerful sound that didn't match the weight in my chest.I was staring at nothing when the door chimed again. I looked up without thinking.A man walked in. He was alone. No coat, no bag, nothing that marked him as anyone in particular. He paused at the entrance, looked around the room, and then walked straight to my table. Not to any other table. Mine.He pulled out the chair across from me and sat down. No introduction. No apology for the intrusion. He just sat there like he had been expected.The waiter appeared beside him. The man ordered coffee. Black. The waiter nodded and walked away.W
ELARA'S POVI was in the bathroom when the burner phone buzzed from where I had left it on the counter, and I knew immediately that something was different because that phone never made a sound unless I was the one using it. I dried my hands and picked it up, and there it was—a message from Ronan with an address for a restaurant far from the park, somewhere I had never been and no one would recognize me.I stared at the screen for a moment, then called him. He picked up on the second ring."What is this for?" I asked."I want to see you."I leaned against the bathroom wall. "I told you before. I only call you when I need you."He was quiet for a second. "This time, I am the one that need you. Can you please come?"I thought about it. He never did this. He never reached out first. Something had to be wrong."When?""Today. If it's possible.""Is this related to why you look like a cat that has being dragged through a shitstorm?"He let out a breath that sounded like tired laughter. "Ye
ELARA'S POVIt worked!!!!!Over the next several days, the house became a war room. Meetings were called at all hours. New investigators were brought in. Trackers I had never seen before walked the halls with clipboards and grave faces. Official records were pulled from storage—financial documents, personnel files, old case notes that hadn't been touched in years. People were being called in for questioning. Security personnel. Accountants. Anyone who had ever worked closely with Marcus or Felix.Kael had done exactly what I wanted. He hadn't abandoned the fraud investigation. He had merged it with the hunt for the killer. Now every death, every missing person, every strange occurrence was being looked at through the same lens. The conspiracy was growing, and I was watching it from the inside.One evening, I was walking past Kael's study when I heard the Beta's voice through the door. Raised. Angry. I stopped and listened."What are you doing?" the Beta was saying. "You're spreading r
ELARA'S POVThe days after my conversation with Ronan blurred together. I went through the motions. Breakfast with the boys. Lunch with the staff. Dinner with Kael. I smiled when I needed to smile. I laughed when I needed to laugh. But I wasn't there. Not really.My mind was stuck on the same thing, over and over. I had killed Felix. I had killed Marcus. I had torn Kael's security apart. And no one cared. No one was afraid. They were too busy chasing ghosts, too busy with their fraud investigation, too busy pointing fingers at dead men who couldn't defend themselves.Why would I kill again? What was the point? Every death would just get folded into the same story. More fraud. More conspiracy. More of the same noise that had nothing to do with me.I stopped planning. I stopped thinking about the next target. The hunger was still there, somewhere deep, but I couldn't reach it. It was like trying to grab smoke.Even the boys noticed. At dinner one night, Lucan looked at me with his head
ELARA'S POVI picked up my keys and walked out of the house without telling anyone where I was going. The drive to Ronan's place took longer than I remembered, or maybe I was just impatient. Every red light felt like a personal insult. Every slow driver made my hands tighten on the wheel. I was frustrated. I was desperate. Nothing was working out the way I planned, and somehow it had gotten into my head in a way I couldn't shake.I parked in his driveway and sat there for a moment, staring at his front door. Then I got out and knocked.He opened the door and his face shifted when he saw me. Not surprised, exactly. More like he had been expecting me to show up eventually, and now that I had, he was trying to figure out what version of me was standing on his doorstep."You ruined everything," I said.He didn't ask what I meant. He just stepped back and let me in.I walked past him into the living room. The table was still littered with the remains of his last meal. A coffee cup. A plate
ELARA'S POV The days before the weekend, Lucan couldn't stop talking about Marcus. At breakfast, he pushed his eggs around his plate and looked at me. "Mama, what does Marcus eat to make him so strong?" "I don't know, baby. Probably the same things we eat." "Does he eat vegetables?" "Yes. Everyone needs vegetables." Lucan made a face. "I don't like vegetables. But if Marcus eats them, maybe I should eat them too." He took a bite of his spinach and chewed with a sour look on his face. At lunch, he had more questions. "Mama, have you ever been to the security headquarters?" "Yes, baby. I have." "Is it big? Are there a lot of screens? Can you see everywhere?" "It's very big. And yes, you can see a lot of things." "Is that where Marcus is taking me?" "That's where he promised to take you." At dinner, he was quieter. I thought he had run out of questions. Then he looked up. "Mama, what if I'm not strong enough? What if Marcus thinks I'm weak?" I put my hand







