The hospital corridor was cold.
Too bright.
Too silent.
Sebastian stood outside the emergency room, his hands clenched at his sides. His eyes were fixed on the closed door like he could break through it just by staring.
Vivian was inside.
Unconscious.
And for the first time in a long time—
He felt something close to fear.
A doctor walked past, speaking in low tones to a nurse. The faint beeping of machines leaked through the door, steady but unsettling.
Time moved slowly.
Too slowly.
Then—
His phone vibrated.
Sebastian looked down.
Unknown number.
"You should have accepted it quietly."
His eyes darkened.
Another message came in.
"Now… we make it worse."
His jaw tightened.
He didn't reply.
But his silence was not weakness.
It was control.
Across the city—
In a private suite hidden behind a luxury hotel—
Three people sat around a low glass table.
Jackson.
Cynthia.
And—
Dorian.
