The morning after the break-in, Rose stood at the mirror, brushing her hair with slow, stiff fingers. She hadn't slept. Not really.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the man's face in the hallway. The weapon in his jacket. The blood in her memories.
She hadn't cried.
Not because she wasn't scared.
But because she was tired of breaking in silence.
When she arrived at the office, everything looked the same.
Too same.
The walls were cold. The staff moved like shadows. No one met her eyes.
It was like they knew. Like they'd heard what happened.
But Arvi was nowhere to be found.
She checked her phone. No message. No call. Nothing.
After everything, he was just… gone.
The knot in her chest grew tighter with every passing hour.
By 2 p.m., she gave up and walked straight into his office.
Empty.
Her fingers trembled as she opened the drawer beneath his desk—a folder marked with her name stared back.
She hesitated… then opened it.
Inside were surveillance photos.
Of her.
On the street. At the cafe. Leaving her apartment.
And then—one that made her knees go weak.
It was a photo of her, taken months before she met Arvi.
Before she applied for the job.
A sharp chill crawled up her spine.
He knew her before she knew him.
She ran.
The elevator was too slow.
She couldn't breathe.
What did it mean? Was this all a setup? Had he planted her? Used her?
Was his interest in her real, or just another part of his world?
By the time she stepped out of the building, the anger in her bones burned hotter than the fear.
He lied.
Arvi returned that night.
The moment he entered his office, Rose was already inside, waiting.
His face darkened when he saw her holding the file.
"You went through my desk?"
"You were watching me before I even knew you," she said, her voice shaking. "What was this? Some twisted test? Some game?"
His jaw clenched. "You don't understand."
"Then make me," she snapped. "Because right now, I feel like the biggest fool alive."
He stepped forward. Slowly. But she didn't back down.
"I had to know who you were," he said. "I needed to know if you were connected to my enemies. If you were a threat."
"And now?" she whispered. "What do you see me as now?"
He didn't answer right away.
He looked at her—really looked at her. Her eyes glassy, her body trembling not from weakness, but from betrayal.
"I see someone I shouldn't care about," he said.
"And yet you do."
His silence was the only answer.
She turned away, swallowing the lump in her throat.
"I thought we were starting to trust each other," she whispered.
Arvi's voice came low behind her. "Trust doesn't come easily to men like me. We learn to tear people apart before they can tear us down."
She faced him again.
"I'm not your enemy, Arvi."
His hands were in fists by his sides. "I know."
"Then stop treating me like I'll break you."
He stared at her.
For a long, painful moment.
And then, in a voice so low she barely caught it, he whispered, "Maybe I already have."
That night, Rose walked out of the office with a heart heavier than ever before.
Because she realized something terrifying.
She was already in too deep.
And no matter how many walls she built...
She had already started falling.