Chapter Thirty One
The city had never felt smaller, noisier, or harsher than it did in the days following the contract leak. Every glance from strangers felt like judgment. Every whispered comment seemed to echo the worst assumptions about them. And for Elena, every corner of her familiar world had become a reminder of vulnerability, humiliation, and the fragile lines of trust she had painstakingly rebuilt.
Adrian, too, had felt the weight of the world pressing down on him. The board's threats, the media's relentless scrutiny, and the invasive curiosity of strangers—all of it had piled on, suffocating and unyielding. But there was one decision that no scandal, no leak, and no ultimatum could undo: he had chosen Elena. And now, more than ever, he needed her somewhere safe, somewhere private, where they could start untangling the chaos without the city breathing down their necks.
