The message did not stop.
It arrived at 2:11 AM.
Arka was awake when it came.
She trusts you more than she should.
He stared at the screen, unmoving.
Not Victor.
Victor did not speak in riddles. Victor preferred intimidation. Direct. Visible.
This was someone else.
Someone patient.
Someone who understood psychology.
Behind him, Aluna slept.
Peaceful. Vulnerable.
His gaze lingered on her longer than he intended.
Trust.
It was the most exploitable weakness.
He silenced the phone and stood, walking to the window. The city stretched below him, alive with secrets and transactions invisible to ordinary people.
He had spent his entire life learning control.
Yet now, control was slipping through invisible fingers.
And the most dangerous part was not knowing whose hands held it.
