Late at night, at the Hughes Family estate.
Midcrest Manor. The massive, ornate gates slid open automatically.
Simon Adler's nondescript car drove in.
Mia Grant took a deep breath, clutching the strap of her shoulder bag.
Ten minutes earlier, they had signed the contract on the way over.
Simon Adler was highly efficient. He had contacted a lawyer in Portia before their flight even took off, and the contract was delivered the moment they landed.
Even so, Mia Grant didn't let her guard down.
'Contracts only ever bind people with a conscience,' she thought.
'Besides, if something really did happen to me, what good would it do if Simon Adler took full responsibility?'
'It wasn't like she'd get a respawn card.'
"Nervous? You've never been here before, have you?"
The man beside her suddenly spoke. Mia's shoulders twitched, and she looked up at him a beat too late.
After a brief moment of eye contact, she looked away. "I've been here once. For the old man's birthday."
