CHAPTER 040: Stay

The elevator doors open, and we step inside. I stand rigid, watching the numbers light up as we ascend. I can almost hear the ticking of my watch—the piece of art Julie got me. Each tick is a countdown to the inevitable clash that’s about to unfold. Maybe I’m thinking too much about it. But I know, deep down, that none of this will go down without a fight.

Finally, the doors slide open, and there it is—Ryan’s lair, as sleek and manicured as the man himself. It’s filled with too much leather, too much crystal, too much everything. It’s so polished it looks like no one actually works here, like it’s a movie set for what the wealthy imagine an office should look like.

Lucy opens the doors and gestures for me and Jerome to step inside. “Please, go right in. They’re expecting you.”

I step forward, nodding a terse goodbye to her, but she doesn’t leave. She stands just outside, giving me one last smile before she lets the door close behind me.

As Jerome and I step further into the room, I fe