The house was too quiet the next morning.
Fina noticed it the moment she stepped into the hallway.
Silence.. not peaceful silence but controlled silence.
The kind that meant everyone was waiting for something.
She walked toward the kitchen slowly. Two guards she had never seen before stood near the entrance hall. They did not say a word when she passed, their eyes just followed her.. That was new.
Fina poured herself a glass of water, trying to ignore the strange tension crawling under her skin.
Madrex had left before dawn or maybe he had not slept at all.
After their conversation the night before, she knew something had changed. Not between them, something changed around them.
She had barely lifted the glass when she heard the front door open.
Footsteps, not Madrex's.
It was heavier, careful and suspicious.
Fina froze.
A man stepped into the kitchen doorway, she had never seen him before.
Tall, broad shoulders and a dark jacket. His eyes swept across the room once before settling on her.
His gaze was cold, professional, not that of a thief, not a stranger who wandered in. It was similar to that of an assassin.
The realization hit her instantly.
He closed the door behind him calmly.
For a moment neither of them spoke then he reached inside his jacket.
Fina's heart slammed in her chest but she did not move, did not scream, did not run.
Something inside her already knew running wouldn't matter.
The man studied her with mild curiosity.
"You are calmer than I expected," he said.
His voice was low, almost polite.
Fina forced herself to speak.
"Who sent you?"
The man's lips curved faintly.
"You already know." Russio Circle.
The name flashed through her mind like lightning.
Her pulse raced, but she kept her shoulders steady.
"So this is how they deal with curiosity."
The assassin tilted his head slightly. "No."
He pulled the gun from his jacket.
"This is how they send messages."
The barrel pointed directly at her chest.
Fina heard her own heartbeat in her ears.
Loud, heavy but she didn't step back and she didn't beg.
If this was how it ended, at least she would look him in the eye.
The assassin's finger began to tighten on the trigger.
Then, a shot rang through the room but it didn't come from his gun.
The man's body jerked violently then blood across his chest.
For a second he looked confused then he collapsed to the floor. He died before he hit the ground.
The smell of gunpowder filled the kitchen.
Fina didn't move.
Her breath came slow and controlled as she looked past the fallen body.
Madrex stood in the doorway behind the assassin.
Gun still raised, his expression was completely cold.
Not anger, not panic.. it was calculation.
He lowered the weapon slowly.
The guards rushed in seconds later, but he didn't look at them.
His eyes were on Fina.
"You should have stayed in your room," he said quietly.
Fina glanced down at the body.
Then back at him.
"You knew he was coming."
It wasn't a question.
Madrex didn't answer.
The guards dragged the corpse away quickly.
Blood smeared across the floor still Fina hadn't moved.
Madrex stepped closer, his gaze scanned her once.
Checking for injuries.
"You're not shaking," he observed.
"I'm scared," she admitted. "But I'm not weak."
Something flickered in his eyes...
"Next time," he said calmly, "don't stand still when someone points a gun at you... You stood still."
"That's different." Fina said
"How?" Madrex asked
"Because you held the gun."
Silence settled between them.
Fina looked toward the door where the assassin had entered.
"They sent him because of me."
Madrex's jaw tightened slightly.
"No."
"Then why?"
He didn't answer immediately... when he did, his voice was lower.
"This wasn't about killing you."
Fina frowned. "Then what was it about?"
Madrex looked down briefly at the blood on the floor then back at her.
"Testing me."
The weight of those words settled heavily in the room.
Fina's chest tightened.
"And?"
Madrex didn't respond.
He turned toward the window slowly.
Across the city, in a dark room filled with screens, several men watched the same scene replay from hidden surveillance.
The assassin entering, the gun raised, Madrex's shot. Precise and immediate.
A man seated at the head of the table leaned back in his chair.
"Well," he murmured. "Now we know."
Another voice asked quietly,
"Should we proceed?"
The man smiled faintly. "Yes."
On the screen, Madrex stood beside Fina.
Protective and unmoving.
"MK-17 has confirmed the variable," the man said calmly.
His fingers tapped once against the table.
"Prepare the next test."
Back in the house, Madrex's phone vibrated in his pocket.
He already knew who it was.
He didn't take it out.
But he knew what the message would say.
The game had begun.
And now, Fina was part of it.