The penthouse was cold when I stepped inside, not in temperature but in atmosphere, quiet, stainless, untouched. Nothing about me felt the same as it had this morning.
Adrian's voice still echoed in my mind, clipped and dismissive. The warmth in the atrium had been a performance and nothing more. The lock clicked behind me. I stripped off my coat and wandered deeper inside. The penthouse smelled faintly of cedar and something colder, deliberate in the way everything here was deliberate.
I unlocked my phone and stared at the message from the bank.
Deposit received: $1,000,000.00 — From A. Vale
Seeing the numbers still had me holding my breath. He had transferred the entire amount the night before, almost the second I finished signing my name. Not a conversation, not a pause. He had thro
