I step out of the car, and the morning air greets me like a blade—cold, sharp, cutting through the fabric of my coat, reminding me that I'm alive even when I wish I wasn't.
My gaze lifts to the Kael Holdings building. It towers above me, shining beneath the pale sunlight like it always has—glass and steel and ambition, indifferent to the small lives passing through its doors.
I remember the first time I saw it.
The first day I opened my eyes in this world as Zyren Kael. Winter had just begun then too. I stepped out of the car and saw this building standing before me.
And him.
Standing near the entrance waiting for me. Dark eyes. Dark hair. Perfect posture. Nervous eyes behind thin glasses. Back then, I thought he looked innocent.
How foolish I was. Believing in someone so easily.
I blink, and the memory fractures, splintering into pieces I can no longer put back together.
I bury it beneath the mask I've been wearing for days now.
