The rain hadn't stopped since morning.
It beat against the glass like the world was mourning with her.
Alina Hart stood by the window of the small hospital room, arms wrapped around herself. Her father's name still echoed in the doctor's mouth, words she couldn't erase.
"I'm sorry, Miss Hart… he didn't make it."
Her heart didn't break all at once. It cracked slowly — like glass under pressure — piece by piece, until all that remained was silence.
He was gone.
Her father. Her only family.
For hours, she just stood there. Watching the rain. Listening to the storm. She wanted to scream, but grief had stolen her voice.
The nurse gently touched her shoulder. "You should go home, dear. Get some rest."
Home.
That word felt empty now. The tiny apartment they shared held nothing but memories — laughter that once filled the air, and unpaid bills sitting on the table.
She nodded silently, took her father's old coat, and stepped into the cold.
The city lights blurred through the rain as she walked home. She didn't notice the black car parked across the street. Didn't see the shadowed figure inside, watching her.
Inside the car, a man's voice spoke low and cold.
"So this is her? The daughter?"
"Yes, sir," another voice replied. "She's all that's left."
The man's fingers tapped against the steering wheel, his expression unreadable. "Then the debt doesn't die with him."
Outside, Alina's footsteps splashed through puddles, unaware that her father's past was already following her home.