The black sedan stopped dead, tires squealing softly on the asphalt, the high beams pinning Cleo in a cruel, dramatic spotlight. The glare was so intense I had to shield my eyes from the doorway.

It wasn’t Adrian’s car, not exactly—it was a nondescript, executive-style vehicle, a hired car, probably, driven by one of his handlers. But the message was clear: Adrian was already here. He wasn’t waiting for the 1:00 AM deadline; he was monitoring the satellite phone and had intercepted Cleo’s act of defiance the moment she stepped outside.

Cleo, momentarily blinded and frozen mid-swing, lowered the knife slightly.

The rear door of the sedan opened, and a figure emerged. Not Adrian, but a massive, heavily built man in a dark suit—a bodyguard, a professional enforcer, the kind of person who specialized in extracting problems and ensuring silence.

The man walked toward Cleo with slow, measured steps, radiating calm, inevitable power.

“Miss Rossi, I’m afraid that device is private property. And highly sensitive. We can’t have it damaged.” His voice was deep, utterly devoid of emotion, like gravel moving through machinery.

Cleo finally found her footing. “Get away from me! This is trespassing! I’m calling the police!”

She raised the chef’s knife again, positioning herself between the bodyguard and the large dumpster. The sight of my fiery, protective friend, holding a mundane kitchen utensil against a man who looked like he could snap her in half, was both heartbreaking and inspiring.

“Don’t be foolish,” the bodyguard said, pausing a few feet away. “We are simply retrieving the phone. If you hand it over, we leave immediately. If you resist, we retrieve the phone, and you will be dealt with by the university administration for assault with a deadly weapon.”

The direct threat, leveraging the Lewis family’s influence against Cleo’s academic standing, was chillingly effective. Adrian always played three moves ahead.

Cleo looked back at me, standing paralyzed in the doorway. She saw the terror in my eyes, the silent plea for her to stop, to not sacrifice everything for my futile battle. Slowly, heartbreakingly, her hand lowered, and the knife tip dropped to the ground. She tossed the satellite phone onto the ground by the dumpster.

The bodyguard nodded, retrieved the phone, and vanished back into the sedan with the speed of a professional. The car reversed in a wide arc, its taillights cutting two deep red paths into the night, and then sped out of the parking lot, leaving Cleo alone, shaking violently by the dumpster.

I rushed out and grabbed her, pulling her back into the apartment. We collapsed against the locked door, gasping.

“He saw me,” Cleo whispered, her voice barely a thread. “He saw me try to destroy it. The White choice is gone, Sophie. We chose Red.”

I held her tightly, the dread a concrete block in my chest. “No. Not yet. He didn’t activate anything. He just took the phone. The deadline is still 1:00 AM. He wants my message, my confirmation. He wants me to acknowledge his complete control over the narrative.”

The next few hours were spent in a state of suspended animation. Cleo, exhausted and traumatized, finally slept, curled on her bed with her door locked. I had twenty minutes until the 1:00 AM deadline. I knew what I had to do: I had to choose white. I had to choose the long, slow captivity to protect Cleo from the sudden, public fire of Adrian’s red protocol. I stood up, walked to the counter, and stared at the red rose.

Suddenly, a loud, insistent knocking broke the silence. Not the polite rap of a neighbor, but a steady, demanding beat.

My heart hammered against my ribs. I looked at the clock: 12:50 AM. Too early for the deadline, but too late for a neighbor.

I walked to the door and peered through the peephole.

It was Adrian.

He was standing there, alone, framed by the harsh hallway light. He was no longer in the tailored suit of the morning; he wore a soft, midnight-blue cashmere sweater and dark trousers. He looked disarmingly normal, dangerously soft.

I backed away, pressing myself against the wall. “Go away!” I yelled, my voice weak.

“The police are irrelevant, Sophie. And I am tired of waiting for a text message I already know,” his voice was muffled by the heavy door, but his tone was weary, not dominant. “Open the door. I need to talk to you about Cleo.”

That stopped me cold. Cleo.

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