(Rowan's POV—VIP Floor 7, City Hospital)
The elevator doors slid open with a sterile chime.
Floor 7.
VIP Wing.
The lights here were softer, warmer, and expensive—the kind of hallway only the rich or powerful ever walked through. But beneath the plush silence and polished walls… I could smell it.
Fear.
Not mine.
Theirs.
Security was tighter than reported—two extra guards positioned along the corridor, hands hovering near their holsters. Kael Valtore either feared retribution…
Or more likely?
He feared the truth.
I stepped out of the elevator with a camera disguised as a shirt button, a mop bucket, shoulders slouched, and posture crouched—the perfect image of an exhausted janitor.
One of the guards immediately narrowed his eyes.
"Hey," he called out. "You're not on tonight's shift list."
I didn't look at him directly—only flashed the gold-stamped access card Theo provided, letting irritation bleed into my tone.
