The clinking of porcelain and the soft murmur of hushed conversations filled the cafe nestled inside the grand five-star hotel. Gold accents, crystal chandeliers, and velvet chairs surrounded Demien and Salena as they sat across from each other at a secluded table tucked near a corner window. The sunlight filtering through the glass glistened against the rim of Salena’s untouched cappuccino.
Neither of them smiled.
Demien leaned back in his chair, arms loosely crossed, his dark eyes sharply observing the woman seated across from him. Salena looked stunning as always—poised, confident, dressed in an elegant beige blouse and tailored trousers. But her expression betrayed her. There was something off. Something unnervingly cautious in the way she kept tracing the rim of her coffee cup with
