Chapter Twenty-Two: The Gallery Is a Blade
Berlin welcomed her with gray skies and brisk air.
The city didn’t pretend to be soft.
It pulsed with something Lena understood now—movement that didn’t ask permission.
She stepped off the plane in a black wool coat, hair pinned back, no sunglasses to shield her face from waiting cameras.
She didn’t smile.
She didn’t wave.
She didn’t pose.
She simply walked.
The flash of bulbs, the cacophony of shouted questions, the swarm of curiosity—none of it touched her. Her stride was steady, unhurried. Not cold. Certain.
Nikolai followed behind her—not beside her. She had asked for that.
Not because she wanted distance.
But because this part of the journey wasn’t his.
It had never been.
**
Galerie Salomé was located in a converted train stati
