"If this is the end of my story, why do I still have the key to your heart?"
Rea whispered the question into the suffocating darkness, but her own voice sounded alien, thin, and brittle in the vast expanse of the penthouse. The silence that followed was heavy, pressing against her eardrums like deep-sea pressure. There was no answer. Zeldin had not deigned to respond to her desperate, final act of defiance. He had simply walked away, leaving her to face the cold, mechanical judgment of his tower. She stood alone in the center of the room, the faint blue light of the status console illuminating the frantic expression on her face. Her hands were still trembling, the remnants of the adrenaline spike that had fueled her digital assault on his network.
She turned toward the windows, seeking
