The sound of the gunshot still echoed in Elara's mind.
The garage smelled of smoke and betrayal.
Adrian leaned against the car, blood seeping between his fingers, jaw locked in quiet pain. The golden-haired man—Rylan—stood frozen, eyes wide with disbelief.
"You hired them…" Elara's voice broke, trembling between fury and heartbreak.
"You paid for my death."
Adrian's silence confirmed everything words could not.
Rylan's glare sharpened.
"Tell her why, Velletto. Tell her the truth before I do."
Adrian looked up slowly, his expression unreadable.
"Leave."
"Not this time."
Rylan took a step forward, gun still in hand.
"You made her believe you were saving her, but it was your signature on the order. You set the trap that got her killed!"
Elara turned on Adrian, her eyes burning.
"Why would you do that?!"
For the first time, the mask cracked.
"Because if I hadn't," Adrian said quietly, "they would have killed you in a slower way. I needed the world to think you were dead before they came for you."
Elara shook her head, disbelief twisting her chest.
"You planned my death to protect me?"
"Yes."
"And you never thought of telling me?"
Adrian's voice dropped to a whisper.
"I didn't expect you to forget."
FLASH.
The fire. The glass. Her body falling.
A bullet through her heart, but the heat fading into darkness.
She remembered his voice calling her name — and then silence.
Her fingers trembled.
"You watched me die."
Adrian's hand lifted halfway, then stopped in the air, as if touching her now would only burn her again.
"I watched you fall," he said, "and I spent every day since building a world where no one could ever reach you again."
Rylan's laugh was bitter.
"And now she's your prisoner in that world."
Adrian's eyes flicked toward him.
"She's free to leave."
"Really?" Rylan said. "Then say the word. Tell her to walk away."
Adrian's silence spoke louder than denial.
Elara took a step back. Her heartbeat was chaos—rage, sorrow, something darker pulsing beneath it.
"I don't know who to hate anymore," she whispered.
Adrian's tone softened.
"Then hate me. But don't forget what you were. Because the people who ordered your death—they're still alive."
Rylan's head snapped up.
"You mean—"
"The Council," Adrian said. "They know she's alive again."
Lightning flashed across the glass ceiling, white and violent.
Elara's grip tightened on the ledger.
"Then I'll finish what I started," she said.
Adrian's lips curved, part pride, part fear.
"There's my Viper."