Lina rubbed her arms slowly.
A sudden chill had run through her body for no reason.
Not cold.
Not exactly.
Just...
Wrong.
Like something unseen had brushed past her.
She looked around instinctively.
The office looked the same.
Computers humming quietly.
Papers shifting.
People talking softly across desks.
Normal.
But her chest still felt tight.
"Hey."
A hand tapped her shoulder suddenly.
Lina flinched hard enough to nearly drop the file in her hands.
Yuqi blinked.
"…okay, now I'm concerned."
Lina exhaled shakily.
"It's nothing."
"It's definitely not nothing."
Yuqi dropped dramatically into the chair beside her.
"It's almost closing time," she complained. "If we don't leave now, someone's going to dump extra work on us and I refuse to suffer for another department."
That finally pulled a faint smile from Lina.
"Yeah," she murmured quickly. "Let's pack."
The speed of her answer made Yuqi narrow her eyes.
"…are you okay?"
Lina paused.
Since morning, she had barely acted like herself.
Quiet.
Distracted.
Jumping at every little thing.
Yuqi leaned closer slightly.
"You've been weird all day."
"I'm fine," Lina replied immediately.
Too immediately.
Yuqi stared at her.
"…you sure?"
Lina nodded quickly.
"Just a headache."
"A bad one?"
"A little."
Yuqi sighed.
"We could stop by the pharmacy on the way home."
"No thanks."
Lina grabbed her bag a little too fast.
"I'm good."
Yuqi didn't look convinced.
But before she could say anything else...
Someone announced closing time.
The office shifted immediately.
Chairs moved.
Bags zipped.
People relaxed all at once.
A few minutes later...
Employees poured out of the building in small groups.
Yuqi talked almost the entire way.
About work.
About food.
About how much she hated waking up early.
Lina listened quietly beside her.
Mostly nodding.
Mostly pretending.
Because her mind still wasn't at rest.
Not even close.
Above them...
On the upper floor...
Adrian stood by the large office window.
Watching.
Not the crowd.
Not the building.
Her.
His gaze followed Lina almost unconsciously as she walked beside Yuqi.
Small.
Quiet.
Unnoticeable.
And yet...
His brows furrowed slightly.
"She's weird."
The words came out low.
Almost thoughtful.
"A weird person entirely…"
A pause.
"…and no one notices it."
The city lights reflected faintly behind him, stretching his silhouette across the glass.
Tall.
Still.
Untouchable.
Like a god watching from above.
But something about his expression...
Wasn't calm.
It was focused.
Like he was trying to solve something.
A knock interrupted the silence.
His assistant stepped inside.
"Sir."
Adrian didn't turn immediately.
"What is it?"
"I just received a call from your grandmother."
That made him glance back slightly.
"She wants you home early."
A small pause.
"Miss Elena arrived at the residence."
The tension in his expression eased almost instantly.
A faint smile appeared.
Real this time.
"I'm on my way."
He reached for the suit coat hanging neatly on the rack beside him and slipped it on smoothly.
Then walked toward the door.
The assistant watched him leave.
And only after the door closed...
Did she exhale softly.
"I don't know…"
She murmured quietly to herself.
"Miss Elena acts suspicious sometimes."
A pause.
"She isn't as kind as she pretends to be."
The assistant shook her head lightly.
"But I guess that's not my place."
Still...
Something about Elena's smile earlier stayed in her mind.
Too perfect.
Too controlled.
And she had learned long ago...
People who smiled that perfectly were usually hiding something ugly underneath.