Chapter 23: Past Ties and Present Tensions
Anita made her way toward the VIP section, her eyes lighting up when she saw David. They had a "no-strings-attached" arrangement that had lasted for months—a secret connection born of mutual loneliness and a shared understanding of the city's darker corners. But as she leaned in to whisper a greeting to David, her gaze snagged on the man sitting next to him. Liam Sterling.
Anita remembered him vividly from a high-society birthday party a year ago. She had tried to talk to him then, drawn to his cold, untouchable aura, but he had looked through her as if she were made of glass. Tonight was no different. Liam gave her a brief, polite nod of recognition before turning back to his drink, his expression one of utter indifference. "Still the Iceman, I see," Anita remarked to David, though her eyes stayed on Liam for a second too long.
David chuckled, pulling Anita closer. "He's in a mood tonight. His father tried to marry him off to a human megaphone." Anita laughed, but her mind was on the girl shivering in the dressing room. She looked at Liam's expensive watch and the way he held himself with such effortless power. He's exactly the kind of man who would fall for a mystery, she thought. If only Eliana were here. Liam checked his own watch, the boredom finally winning out. "Five more minutes, David," he warned. He had no idea that the woman who would eventually shatter his icy heart was only thirty feet away, hidden behind a thin plywood wall and a burning fever.