Sophie’s POV
The message from Daniel Voss wouldn’t leave my head.
We need to talk. Before Adrian ruins you the way he ruined your father.
The words bled through everything, poisoning even the silence.
By nightfall, I couldn’t take it anymore. I slipped out of Adrian’s estate through the side gate, heart hammering with the thrill of defiance. The guards didn’t see me—or maybe they did, and chose not to stop me. Either way, it felt dangerous, stupid, and necessary.
Voss had chosen a hotel that looked like a corpse of what it once was. Once-grand chandeliers hung crooked, their crystals coated with dust. Velvet curtains sagged like tired lungs, barely covering broken windows. A sharp stench of mildew clung to the air.
And there he was. At the bottom of the staircase, standing like the r
