Semua Bab Crave Me,Kill Me: Bab 1 - Bab 10

Aria Quinn stood at the edge of the revolving glass doors of Vale Corp’s headquarters, staring up at the building that looked less like a workplace and more like the kind of place empires were born and burned.Her palms were sweating. Not from nerves she told herself that lie often enough to believe it but from the weight of what this interview meant. A chance to leave the past where it belonged. A chance to disappear into a world so far above her own, no one would ever think to look for her there.“Breathe,” she whispered, adjusting the strap of her portfolio bag.The building loomed above, all black marble and reflective steel, forty seven stories of ambition, intimidation, and impossible standards. It pulsed with money. And danger. Even the doormen looked like they carried earpieces and sidearms beneath their tailored jackets.Aria stepped inside.The lobby was silent except for the echo of her boots on polished stone. Dozens of people in sleek black suits moved through the space l

The next morning, Vale Corp looked even less human than it had the day before.Aria stood just outside the elevator on the forty-second floor, hands wrapped around her ID badge, shoulders squared despite the weight in her chest.She hadn’t slept.Not after the photo. Not after finding her apartment violated. Not after the message that had turned her blood to ice.Careful, Aria. Some ghosts don’t stay buried.She should’ve walked away.But instead, she walked in.A tall man in a fitted gray suit security, but the high-end, ex-military kind was waiting for her just past the lobby. He didn’t introduce himself. Just nodded.“Ms. Quinn. Mr. Vale asked me to escort you.”Escort her?She didn’t know whether to feel important or threatened.They walked in silence through the curved hallway of the executive floor. The walls here were more than sleek they were soundproof, designed for secrets.Cassian Vale didn’t just build a fortress. He built a system.Her office was glass-walled and private,

Aria sat frozen in front of the screen long after the video ended, the final frame burned into her vision.The man’s blood-soaked face. The moment he looked into the camera like he knew someone was watching. Like he knew she would see it one day.She closed the folder. Wiped the access logs clean. Deleted the local temp data.Then stood and walked out of the office without saying a word.She didn’t take the elevator. She needed air.The forty-second floor stairwell was cold and echoing, and she didn’t stop moving until she reached the sky terrace on the executive level. The doors opened to a quiet rooftop garden with hedges trimmed like they guarded state secrets and a view that could crack your heart open.She leaned against the stone railing, breathing hard.She was in too deep.Or maybe not deep enough.Her fingers trembled as she opened her phone. She pulled up an old research app she used for freelance investigations, then typed in the name she hadn’t dared say out loud:Charles

The lobby of Vale Corp was cold and glittering as always, but Aria didn’t feel small inside it today.She felt sharp.She wore a black fitted dress, silver ring, and eyes that had seen someone almost die in front of her just 24 hours ago. No one noticed that part they never do. Not in buildings like this.But Cassian would.He always noticed the things people tried to hide.She took the elevator without a word. Passed the silent guards without a glance. Her heels tapped over the marble floor with the confidence of someone who wasn’t waiting for permission anymore.Inside her office, everything looked untouched. Clean. Normal.Fake.She didn’t sit.Instead, she walked to the glass wall and stared down at the city below, letting the skyline remind her why she was doing this.Power didn’t exist unless you were close enough to steal it.And she was close now. Closer than anyone realized.A knock sounded behind her.She turned slowly.Cassian Vale stepped inside like smoke. All black-on-

The message came at 2:14 a.m.From: Vale, C.Subject: Now. No guards. No excuses.She didn’t think.Didn’t hesitate.She threw on her coat, slid the flash drive into her bra, and made her way through the sleeping tower, silent as breath. The elevator opened for her without a key swipe.He was already waiting.Cassian stood behind his desk, no jacket, shirt unbuttoned at the collar. One hand braced on the edge of the glass. The city burned behind him in gold and blue.He didn’t look up when she entered.He didn’t need to.“You lied to me,” he said.Aria stepped in slowly. “You knew I would.”“I did,” he said softly. “And I still wanted you close.”She froze.He finally raised his eyes.And she knew in that instant that the version of him who spoke like a machine had died sometime between yesterday and now.This man was unraveling.And it was because of her.“Why did you come here?” he asked.“I don’t know.”“You do.”She stepped closer. “Because I needed the truth.”“And now that y