Patricia.
A slow smile curved across my lips as I stepped out of Vanessa's room.
It wasn't soft. It didn't carry warmth or comfort, didn't linger with anything gentle or kind. It was sharp and calculated.
Laced with something darker that sat just beneath the surface, something that twisted quietly with satisfaction.
I didn't bother to hide it.
There was no reason to.
Everything was finally falling into place.
The pieces that once felt scattered, uncertain, incomplete—they were aligning now, sliding into position with a precision that made something deep inside me settle.
The plan.
Our plan.
Just thinking about it sent a strange thrill through me, subtle but undeniable, curling low in my chest and spreading outward. My steps remained measured as I moved down the hallway, unhurried, controlled, but there was a quiet energy beneath them, something restrained, something waiting.
Anticipation.
Maria.
The name alone was enough.
