David’s POV
I flicked away the ash from my cigarette, irritation bubbling beneath the surface. The person on the other end of the phone received my curt instructions to continue monitoring Samantha's movements. With an abrupt end to the call, I couldn't shake the twinge of regret that lingered, not for Vera but for the complexities of her past.
Once, I pitied her situation despite her deadbeat father, with a mother still present and a protective grandfather. Life, though challenging, seemed to promise a brighter and more straightforward future for her than for most.
However, the revelation of Vera's past over the past three years had morphed that pity into a potent brew of resentment, extending even to her late grandfather. Though I maintained a composed exterior, beneath it, I delved i
