CLAUDE
I DIDN’T KNOW how long I sat there, staring at the contract in my hand. The words blurred—standard terms, nothing special. Borders. Alliances. Trade agreements. Rules that made sense on paper but meant nothing without real trust.
I glanced at the window to see the sun had already dipped below the horizon before looking at the paper again.
But it wasn’t the paper that mattered. No, it was what wasn’t written. What Elli had said.
Nikolai was alive.
That words hit harder than any punch I’d ever taken. My fingers clenched until the edge of the paper crumpled. My chest locked up, pressure building so tight it felt like something would crack—but the air wouldn’t come. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t feel my lungs. Just that tight, suffocating ache.
I dropped the contract on the table a
