At the packed bar, Ren didn't bother trying to order. He guided her to a small opening, then turned her to face him, his body shielding her from the prying eyes of the crowd. He placed a hand on the small of her back, a simple touch that sent a fresh wave of intoxicating heat through her. He leaned in, his eyes intense and captivating.
"This place is too loud," he said, his voice a low rumble that she felt more than she heard. "Let's go somewhere more private."
It was a statement of what was about to happen, and for Mia, whose mind was clouded with an overwhelming, inexplicable desire, there was no other possible answer. She gave a single, decisive nod. "Okay," she whispered, her voice full of anticipation.
The destination was her choice, a detail given in a hazy, dreamlike state as they slid into the quiet, private cocoon of an autonomous cab. Her apartment. The perfect stage for his revenge. The moment the heavy door clicked shut behind them, her personal sanctuary, the one she shared with Adrian, became his hunting ground.
Later, in the pre-dawn gray light filtering through the bedroom window, Ren dressed silently. His movements were efficient, detached. He had completed his objective. As he picked up his wallet from the nightstand, his eyes fell upon a silver-framed photograph: Adrian, looking smug and proprietary with his arm wrapped around a genuinely smiling Mia.
Ren picked up the frame. He stared into the glossy eyes of the man who had treated him like dirt, the man who had laughed while piling work on his desk that would eventually kill him. He was a man completely, blissfully oblivious to how his perfect little world had just been irrevocably violated.
A slow, cold smirk spread across Ren's face. It was a look of pure, unadulterated contempt and triumph.
With a deliberate, almost ceremonial slowness, he turned the photograph over and placed it face-down on the nightstand with a soft, final thud. The first brick in the wall of Adrian's smug life had just been removed.