Leon sat behind his polished office desk, staring out at the skyline as daylight bled into a pale grey dusk. The city lights flickered on one by one — everything falling into place like clockwork, just as he preferred.
Except Lily.
He wondered what she was doing and if she was thinking about him.
His phone lay face-up before him, mocking him with its blank screen—no new messages. No calls. Not even a read receipt on the twenty he had sent today.
He tapped the glass twice.
Straight to voicemail again.
A muscle in his jaw twitched as he forced a calm breath — one that didn’t quite reach his lungs. He scrolled through his private investigator’s most recent report:
No confirmed sightings. Checking further CCTV in the high street.
Ridiculous. Lily had never acted this way before. She di
