Alexander drove too fast.
The city lights blurred past the windshield as he gripped the steering wheel hard enough to make the leather creak. Her resignation email kept replaying in his head, each word a clean, final cut. Effective immediately. She had not called. She had not answered. She had simply decided she was done.
When he reached her building he took the stairs two at a time. The hallway was quiet. He stopped in front of her door and knocked once, hard.
No answer.
He knocked again, louder.
“Elena. Open the door.”
Silence.
Something cold and sharp slid under his ribs. He tried the handle. Locked. He stepped back and drove his shoulder into the door. Wood cracked. A second impact and the frame gave way with a splintering sound that echoed down the empty corridor.
The studio w
