Too exhausted to continue arguing with Selena, Alex turned away from her completely. The fire still burned behind him, the last blackened edges of the photographs crumbling into ash. He no longer looked at her face, and he had no intention of responding to her tears. Every bit of energy he had left was directed toward the task in front of him. His movements were quiet and steady as he resumed packing his belongings. The calm on his face was not peaceful at all, rather, it seemed like he had already reached the end of something and saw no reason to keep talking.He was mentally sorting through his belongings, some things could be left behind without a second thought. The newer shirts Selena had bought him, the ties she had chosen, the small everyday items that had accumulated over three years—those he ignored. They belonged to the life he was walking away from. But the old possessions he had brought with him three years ago would all be taken away without exception. He crouched down

Just then, Selena heard her phone ringing. The sudden sound cut through the heavy silence of the living room. She was still sitting on the floor with her back against the front door, the messy pile of clothes and the fading glow of the fireplace in front of her. For a brief moment, hope flared in her chest. She thought it might be Alex. Maybe he had calmed down. Maybe he had reached wherever he was going and decided to call. Her hand moved quickly toward the phone, fingers slightly unsteady.When she saw the name on the screen, the hopeful anticipation in her heart immediately turned into disappointment. It was Dennis.She stared at the glowing screen for a second longer before answering. Her voice came out flat and tired.“Hello?”Dennis’s voice came through the line, soft and concerned.“Selena, it’s me. You didn’t reply to any of my messages after you left. I got worried. I wanted to make sure you got home safely. Are you okay? Did anything happen on the way back?”Although Selena

Night had swallowed the city whole, leaving behind a cold, heavy dampness that clung to the asphalt. Alex paid little attention to the brief encounter, having zero intention of getting dragged into whatever obscure disaster was taking place in the shadows. The sudden, strange meeting with the black-cloaked woman already felt distant—a flickering memory fading the second her dark silhouette vanished into the surrounding night. Who knew what kind of chaotic, twisted relationship existed between that mysterious woman and the ruthless pursuers hot on her heels?​It simply was not his business. As long as they did not provoke him, he could not care less about their dangerous games. He had enough of his own poisons to swallow. His mood was already spiraling, shredded to pieces by the agonizing events earlier that evening. Selena. The mere thought of her name was like an open wound, bleeding fresh anger and betrayal into his veins. The suffocating frustration from the ruined birthday dinner,

After leaving the chaotic scene behind him, Alex managed to calm down somewhat. The biting cold of the late night air and the sudden, explosive physical release of the short fight had successfully drained a good portion of the sharpest, most suffocating edge from his overwhelming anger. He walked at a much slower, more deliberate pace now, sinking both hands deep into his jacket pockets while the intense, exhausting tension that had gripped his shoulders all evening finally began easing by small degrees. ​He wasn't in the least bit worried about any potential retaliation from the gang, either. Men like them were nothing more than bottom-feeding rats—cowards who only ever dared to roam freely in the dark alleys and would instantly perish or scatter the second they were exposed to the bright light of day. They possessed no real power, no influential backing that could ever hope to reach him, and absolutely no reason to waste their time chasing a formidable stranger who had already left

Her attitude clearly favored Dennis while expressing deep dissatisfaction toward Alex. The longer the conversation continued, the more her tone softened whenever she spoke to Dennis, shifting into a gentle warmth, and sharpening quickly whenever the conversation turned toward her husband. She sat on the edge of the bed, the earlier lingering loneliness of the vast, quiet master bedroom slowly morphing into something far more pointed, defensive, and bitter.​Dennis carefully probed whether Alex was simply consumed by jealousy.​“Selena… do you think he’s just jealous?” Dennis asked, speaking in a careful, impossibly gentle cadance. “I’ve been thinking a lot about the way he’s been acting toward you lately. Honestly, it feels like excessive possessiveness. Like he’s completely unwilling to give you any real freedom at all. Every single time you try to help someone out or just maintain a normal, healthy working relationship, he turns it into some huge, imagined threat.”​The words settle