The moment I stepped into the office, the tension hit like ice water. The air was thick, buzzing with unspoken threats, every shadow sharper than the last. Adrian was already there, standing near the window, back rigid, shoulders squared, gaze fixed on something I couldn’t see. I knew immediately that the calm he projected was a mask, a thin one that barely contained the storm beneath.
“Seraphina,” he said, voice low, clipped, as if each syllable weighed with expectation. I felt my stomach tighten, not from fear, but from the anticipation of what I knew was coming. Every instinct screamed that tonight would change everything.
I took a cautious step closer, heels clicking softly against the polished floor. My mind raced, questions, doubts, strategies, pride. The memories of the last confr
