KALEB
"It'll be over in a few months, surely… I'm so fucking close."
I lean back in my chair, slowly rotating the whiskey glass between my fingers, watching dust float lazily through the slant of afternoon light.
"Hmm."
My father's Beta rubs his jaw, his eyes narrowing as he studies me through the other end of the laptop screen.
"You don't sound thrilled for someone who's been chasing this since he was fourteen."
"Excitement is for amateurs," I reply dryly. "I'm focused on finishing it."
Still, his words can't be scraped out of my mind.
He isn't wrong.
Vengeance is close—close enough that I almost have everything planned out .
After years of relentless pursuit, every move I've made, every sacrifice I've made will be justified, the endgame is finally in sight.
But instead of the thrill I'd imagined, all I feel is… nothing.
Bitterness clings to the back of my throat like old smoke.
