The Mercedes rolled quietly down the familiar country road, tyres humming against the uneven pavement. It was a late Sunday morning, the kind of crisp air that carried both silence and weight. Lukas sat alone in the back seat, staring out the tinted window as fields of corn and fading autumn leaves passed by. His family had remained behind—Annie, Bella, Liora, and little Sophia. He had told them it was business. But it wasn't. It was something more personal, something he couldn't quite name, only feel.