Nyra had learned how to survive chaos. But this chaos came with chandeliers, marble floors, and so many stairs she could die just looking at them.
ValeTech had paired her with Elias for a special project a high-stakes assignment to test interns. Everyone whispered it was Adrian's idea.
Nyra didn't care.
She arrived early, hoodie zipped, locs pinned back, laptop humming. Elias was pacing nervously in the massive foyer of his family's mansion. Walls of glass reflected sunlight like they wanted to blind her. Statues, fountains, and a chandelier so big it looked like it could crush someone. Nyra's jaw tightened.
"Morning," Elias said, trying casual, but his voice cracked slightly under the weight of his own home. "Ready to uh...., tackle this?"
Nyra blinked at the infinity of carpets and gold accents. "Define tackle."
Elias waved toward the study. "Collaborate. Strategize. Not die under chandelier gravity."
She smirked. "Noted."
The first hour was technical coding, debugging and designing. Nyra moved like a ghost, precise and unflappable. Elias tried to keep up, impressed but distracted by the mansion's opulence.
At one point, he shook his head. "Wait… did you smoke last night?"
Nyra rolled her eyes, clicking lines of code. "And?"
Elias groaned. "Doesn't it… interfere?"
"Interfere?" Nyra shot back, deadpan. "I've balanced streets, drugs, and late-night coding for years. Cigarettes aren't a threat."
He exhaled. "I just… want you to last longer than the weekend."
Nyra glanced at him. "I can handle myself."
By lunchtime, Elias invited her to meet his family.
"Just my mom and siblings," he said. "Don't worry, no dad this time."
Nyra raised an eyebrow. "Big fish absent? Sounds like you're used to it."
The mansion's hallway seemed to stretch forever. Paintings of stern ancestors lined the walls. The siblings barreled toward them some whispering, some staring wide-eyed at her hoodie.
Elias's mom, warm yet sharp-eyed, greeted her. "Nyra! Elias talks about you constantly. All true, I hope?"
Nyra smiled politely. "All true enough."
The siblings were curious. One younger brother poked at her laptop. "You're the coder he brags about?"
She nodded. "Guilty as charged."
Lunch was lavish. Gold-rimmed plates. Fresh herbs. Bread baked to perfection. Nyra nibbled carefully, trying not to let her street instincts scream, what is this place?!
Elias tried again. "Seriously, Nyra… these cigarettes…"
"Relax," she said, taking a bite. "I've been balancing streets and code longer than you've been managing this… palace."
He laughed, exasperated. "I just want you not to kill yourself early."
"Noted," she replied, brushing it off.
By the end of the day, the project was running smoother than anyone expected. The two of them had clicked not perfectly, but efficiently.
Nyra left the mansion, blinking at the sunlight and the driveway that could host a small army of cars. She lit a cigarette on the front lawn, inhaled deeply, and smiled.
Fault lines were forming not from Shark, not from Adrian but from the world she had to navigate next.
And she was ready.