The harsh, artificial glow of the laptop screen illuminated the tears streaming down Clara’s face. She sat on the floor of her modest apartment, her knees pulled tightly to her chest, rocking back and forth as her phone vibrated relentlessly on the coffee table.

*Bzzzt. Bzzzt. Bzzzt.*

She didn’t

The descent into the belly of the city felt less like a drive and more like a plunge into freezing water. Victor’s Aston Martin glided through a subterranean parking structure beneath the financial district, the shadows swallowing the sleek vehicle whole.

Clara sat rigid in the passenger seat, the

The morning sun felt like a violent accusation as it streamed through the tall windows of Clara’s makeshift office.

She stood by her drafting table, staring blankly at a blueprint she hadn't touched in hours. Her lips were still swollen. Her skin still hummed with the phantom weight of Victor’s ha