The snap was soft. Final.
A sound too sharp in the silence.
He stood there, unmoving.
Then turned to her.
“Tell me everything.”
Not a suggestion.
A command.
Arden swallowed hard.
The wind stirred, sending petals tumbling across the sidewalk—red smudges against concrete, too vivid, too deliberate.
She didn’t know who had left this message.
But she felt the intent in her bones.
Not yet.
But this wasn’t about her past anymore.
She could feel it.
This was the beginning of something larger.
Darker.
And whoever had left this behind?
They hadn’t just made a mistake.
They’d made an enemy.
From a distance,concealed in the layered dark of the city, Sebastian watched.
Not from hesitation.
From certainty.
Because he had left the rose—whole.
A gesture.
A vow.
Placed with reverence, meant to remind her of what she already knew.
She was never alone.
But someone had ruined it.
Shattered the glass.
Scattered the petals.
