^^Morning^^
I didn't feel like freedom anymore it felt like pressurized oxygen in a diving bell.
I stood in front of the small, fogged-up mirror in our Geylang shophouse, watching the steam from the shower disappear. Julian had stayed up all night, the blue light of his monitors casting long, jagged shadows across the room.
He hadn't said a word when I woke up, but his grip on his coffee mug was so tight his knuckles were white. He was a man waiting for a ghost to materialize, and after the Polaroid on our door last night, we both knew the ghost had arrived.
"Stay in the office, Mia," Julian whispered as I adjusted the collar of my blouse. He checked the physical deadbolt of our door for the third time....a useless gesture against a man who didn't need doors to get inside your head.
"Don't go out for lunch. I've reached out to the NBI contacts who followed our trail. If he's in the city, he's leaving a footprint. We just need to find the trail."
I nodded, but as I boarded the MRT at Geylang Bahru, I knew Julian was wrong. Enzo Galvez didn't leave footprints. He left blueprints. He didn't follow people he designed the world around them until they had nowhere else to go but back to him.
I arrived at 932 Design Consultants at exactly 8:55 AM. The office, located in a sleek high-rise in the Central Business District, was a masterpiece of biophilic design....glass, hanging gardens, and open-plan workstations that were supposed to encourage transparency. To me, it was just a cage with better lighting.
I sat at my desk, my heart a frantic, uneven rhythm against my ribs. I tried to lose myself in the AutoCAD files for a luxury penthouse project in Orchard Road. I focused on the textures....the light oak, the neutral linens, the Zen-like order.
I needed the order. I needed to believe that if I could align the pixels on my screen, I could align the fragments of my life.
"Sienna! Good morning!"
My boss, Mr. Tan, beamed as he walked toward my workstation. He was a man who lived for high-stakes contracts, and today, he looked more excited than I'd ever seen him.
"Great news," he said, leaning over my desk.
"The V.I.P. consultant for the Vertical Forest Project is here. He's requested to see the junior team's renderings personally before the final board presentation. This is a huge opportunity for you."
The blood drained from my face, leaving me feeling cold in the humid office. "Consultant, Mr. Tan? I thought the project was an internal collaboration with the Singapore government."
"He's a specialist from the Philippines. A genius in Brutalist Architecture mixed with modern sustainability. He's the one who designed the Tagaytay Ridge Facility back home," Mr. Tan said, already gesturing toward the glass-walled conference room. "Come. Bring your tablet. He's specifically interested in your spatial philosophy."
My feet felt like they were sinking into wet cement. I walked toward the conference room, my vision blurring at the edges. Through the floor-to-ceiling glass walls, I saw him.
Enzo Galvez didn't look like a man who had survived a cathedral fire or a manhunt. He looked like a God of Industry.
He was wearing a bespoke charcoal suit that fit him like a second skin, his hair perfectly coiffed, a pair of designer glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. He was leaning over a sprawling table of blueprints, his hands...the hands that had held a gun to my head, the hands that had murdered my father...now holding a silver drafting pen with surgical precision.
"Ah, and this must be the talented Ms. Cruz," Enzo said.
His voice was a smooth, terrifying purr that vibrated in my chest. He didn't call me Mia. He didn't wink. He looked at me with the professional coldness of a stranger, but his eyesm..those dark, bottomless pits of obsession ....were screaming. I see you, baby. I see the steel ring Julian gave you.
"Sienna, meet Mr. Gabriel Varga," Mr. Tan introduced us, oblivious to the fact that he was introducing a lamb to a wolf.
Gabriel Varga... A new name... A new foundation.
"A pleasure," I whispered. I didn't offer my hand. I knew if he touched me, the Double Tape would instantly reactivate. I could feel the invisible threads of his presence pulling at my skin, reminding me of the twelve years I spent as his *Masterpiece.*
"The rendering for the master suite is... interesting," Enzo.....Gabriel...said, tapping the screen of my tablet. He stepped closer, his scent of Tom Ford and expensive scotch filling my lungs, erasing the smell of the Singapore rain.
He moved his finger across my design, tracing the wall of the bedroom.
"But the structural integrity is off. You've placed the bed too close to the floor-to-ceiling window. It's vulnerable. High-altitude living requires a sense of security, Ms. Cruz. One gust of wind, one shattered pane, and the whole illusion of safety collapses. You've built a room that invites the outside in... but you've forgotten how to keep the monsters out."
He looked up, his gaze locking onto mine.
"Don't you agree? True safety isn't a matter of distance. It's a matter of reinforced glass."
The next hour was a masterclass in psychological torture. Enzo spoke in architectural metaphors, but every word was a direct threat. When he talked about *load-bearing walls,* he was talking about Julian.
When he talked about *unauthorized renovations,* he was talking about our marriage.
"I'll be in Singapore for the next month to oversee the final pour of the foundation," Enzo said as the meeting ended, shaking Mr. Tan's hand. He turned back to me, a small, insulting smile playing on his lips.
"I look forward to seeing your progress, Sienna. I hear you've recently... expanded your family foundation."He flicked his gaze toward the steel ring on my left hand.
I stood there, frozen, as he walked out of the office. The moment the elevator doors closed, I ran to the bathroom and threw up. I leaned against the sink, splashing cold water on my face, my breath coming in jagged hitches.
He's here. He's in my office. He's my boss's hero.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a notification from the Master Remote....the device I thought Julian had neutralized.
"The Real Date at the Hawker Center was a nice touch, baby. But you forgot one rule of the Double Tape, it's strongest when it's under pressure. I'm currently at your shophouse. Your mother is making me Kare-Kare. She says you'll be home for dinner."
I looked at the bathroom mirror. Tucked into the corner of the frame was a single, white Spider Lily...the flower of the dead.
I didn't take the MRT back. I took a taxi, screaming at the driver to go faster. When I reached the Geylang shophouse, I didn't wait for Julian. I burst through the door, my heart in my throat.
The scene inside was a nightmare dressed as a domestic fantasy.
My mother was at the stove, humming a song, her face glowing with a happiness I hadn't seen in years. And there, sitting at our small wooden table, was Gabriel Varga.
"Mia! You're just in time!" my mother chirped, oblivious to the horror. "Gabriel was just telling me about how he found us. He said he was an old colleague of Enzo's from Manila. He's been so kind, Mia. He even brought a bottle of wine to celebrate your promotion."
Enzo stood up, his height looming over the small room. He looked at me with a look of pure, unadulterated triumph.
"Sit down, Sienna," he said softly, pulling out a chair for me. "Your mother has gone to so much trouble. It would be a structural waste if the food went cold."
I looked at the table. There were three plates. One for my mother.. One for Enzo.. And one for me.
"Where is Julian?" I whispered, my voice trembling.
"Julian?" Enzo asked, tilting his head with mock confusion. "Oh, the technician? I believe he had a... site emergency. He called and said he'd be late. He was very insistent that we start without him."
I looked at Enzo's watch...the one I knew was a remote trigger. He hadn't killed Julian. Not yet. He was keeping him as a variable.
"Eat, Mia," Enzo whispered, leaning in so close I could feel the heat of his body. "Let's talk about the Anniversary. Twelve years is a long time to keep a secret, don't you think?"
I picked up the spoon, my hand shaking so much the metal clattered against the ceramic. I looked at my mother, who was smiling at her saintly guest.
I realized then that I wasn't in Singapore anymore. I was back in the Basement. The location had changed, but the Architect was the same. And this time, he wasn't building a cage. He was building a Gallows.
Just as I took the first bite, the front door kicked open. Julian Alcasid stood there, his face covered in blood, a gun in his hand. But before he could fire, Enzo didn't flinch. He simply tapped his watch.
The Digital Billboard outside the window...the one overlooking our alleyway...suddenly changed. It wasn't an ad for watches or jewelry.
It was a live feed of Arthur Santos's grave in Manila. And standing over the grave was a man with a shovel, waiting for a signal.
"Choose, Julian," Enzo purred, not even looking at the gun. "Do you want to kill me, or do you want to keep her father's body from being erased?"