Recognition.
His gloved fingersskimmed the edge of his phone, the screen aglow.
“Enjoying your new life?”
Clean. Intentional. Just enough to make her look over her shoulder—to wonder if the past had followed her into this gilded place.
Her gaze returnedto the rose.
Perfect.
She hesitated again, just barely. That same unconscious tic. Lip caught, then released.
She’s hiding something.
She always does that when she’s hiding something.
He smiled.
It was happening. Slowly, inevitably, she was beginning to feel it.
Beginning to see the thread he’d woven for what it was: connection. Quiet and unbreakable.
She wasn’t just a bartender.
She was everything.
Arden exhaled and turned,her shoulders squaring as she walked toward the door. So strong.
Little Fire.
Even in doubt, she carried herself like a storm wrapped in silk.
Unyielding. Luminous.
Didn’t she know?
She already ruled this world.
She believed polished glass and curated luxury could shield her.
Blackwell’s kingdom couldn’t keep her safe.
He knew better.
And he knew her better.
The soft clickof the door echoed as she left.
But he didn’t move. Didn’t need to.
The rose remained,a blood-red truth left in a sterile world built on appearances.
It would speak for him.
A reminder.
That someone could still reach her.
