Darian's POV
The precise moment she slipped out of the vehicle and shut the door, the sudden, clean sound hit me harder than any physical blow possibly could. It was a crisp, definitive click—a small, final punctuation mark on a moment that had irrevocably altered my world. I remained utterly motionless, my hands still fiercely planted on the steering wheel, stiff and entirely useless, while the powerful engine beneath me idled with a soft, persistent thrum, like a synthetic heartbeat I knew I couldn't possibly match. She began to walk, her figure moving with purposeful grace toward the looming shadow of her apartment building, and she never once looked back. I allowed myself to watch for one second too long—a conscious, agonizing mistake—long enough for the specific, elegant shape of her
