The silver executive sedan merged seamlessly into the midnight flow of the city’s financial district, its heavily tinted windows insulating us from the neon-lit chaos of the metropolis outside. The privacy partition separating the rear cabin from the driver was a thick pane of frosted ballistic glass, ensuring that the heavy, suffocating silence hanging between Elara and me remained entirely absolute.
Elara sat pressed against the far door, her arms crossed tightly over the bodice of her midnight-blue evening gown. The rhythmic flashing of the passing streetlamps cast alternating shadows across her flawless, porcelain face, highlighting the deep furrow of concentration etched between her brows. Her mind, an engine of pure, relentless corporate calculation, was spinning out of control.
Sh
