The heavy silence that followed Dominic Mylod’s declaration felt like a physical weight in the opulent, wood-paneled room of the Orionis Hotel. For a heartbeat, the only sound was the distant hum of the city’s traffic filtered through triple-paned glass. Then, the silence was shattered.
"Hah! Hahahaha!" Chris Mackay threw his head back, his laughter echoing off the display cases of high-end artifacts. It was a jagged, ugly sound, devoid of humor. He looked at Dominic with the pitying gaze of a predator watching a particularly deluded rabbit. "You really are a piece of work, aren't you? Eddison warned me you were a delusional house-pet, but this? This is world-class theater."
Dominic didn't flinch. He stood like a pillar of granite, his eyes cool and observant as they scanned the room's e
