A new name had been planted inside her. Wren. It felt like a small, smooth stone she had swallowed, a solid little truth resting in her stomach. She went through her day aware of it with every step. It was a quiet, private thing that changed everything. It made the office feel less real, like she was watching a play she used to star in, but from a seat far back in the theater.
Lucien, meanwhile, was a man who had won the lottery. The Valkyrie skyscraper plans were gone, sent off into the world. In his mind, it was already a done deal, a masterpiece with his name on it. He moved through the apartment that morning like a king. He hummed, a tuneless, happy sound, under the blast of the shower. He stood in his walk-in closet for a full ten minutes, finally picking out a silk tie with a single
