The question lived inside her now. What do you build when no one is watching? It followed her everywhere. It was not a request for a pretty portfolio piece to show a client. It was a keyhole, a small, dark opening, and she understood she had to forge the key herself. She thought about it while washing the wine glasses Lucien left in the kitchen sink, her hands moving in soapy water while her mind worked on a different problem. She turned the question over in her mind during long design meetings at the office, a private and urgent puzzle hidden perfectly behind her attentive, quiet eyes. It was, she knew, a more important project than anything Gates and Associates would ever put their name on.
Lucien was completely consumed by Sasha’s shiny world. Their dining table, once a place for quiet
