Morning sunlight streamed through the penthouse windows, soft and golden, but to Adrian, it felt like a spotlight. Every sound—the clink of glass, the hum of the elevator, the slow footsteps—was too loud.
He'd barely slept. Every time he closed his eyes, Alexander's face and words echoed in his head.
"God, I barely made it out alive," he murmured as he stepped into his room.
He shuddered.
He had escaped Alexander's mansion when he was sure no one would stop him. He made sure Alexander was sleeping before he snuck out of the mansion.
"I scaled through last night, I'd scale through today, too."
Adrian adjusted his tie in front of the mirror, forcing his trembling hands to stay still. He needed to be perfect—calm, precise, unreadable. His disguise had survived worse situations before.
But last night… something felt different. Alexander had changed.
The man who once looked at him with indifference now looked at him like a puzzle he intended to solve.
