NICOLE
The steering wheel feels heavy in my hands, the weight of the last twenty-four hours finally settling into my bones.
The adrenaline that kept me going—through the terror with Shuya, the furious investigation at Apex, the tense wait for the news to break—has drained away, leaving behind a hollow, trembling exhaustion.
I guide the Bentley through the now-familiar gates of the Soma estate. The guards nod, their respect more pronounced than ever. Ren must have told them. They know what I did. The thought should make me feel powerful, but right now, it just makes me feel tired.
I park the car and drag myself into the penthouse. The silence that greets me is different from the panicked, waiting silence of the last few days. This is a clean, quiet silence. And it's spotless.
I stop in the middle of the living room. The empty takeout containers are gone. The discarded wrappers, the evidence of my frantic, fearful eating, have all vanished.
