(Evelina's POV—Inside the Car—Later)
The leather seat hummed beneath me as the car slid through the city. Neon lights streaked across the windows—blue, gold, and crimson—painting shifting shadows across my face.
I leaned my elbow against the window frame, chin resting on my hand, legs crossed elegantly. Outside, skyscrapers blurred past like indifferent giants.
Inside?
My mind was anything but calm.
Rowan glanced at me through the mirror from time to time—subtle, quiet, careful. It was like he was trying to read a book whose pages he couldn't turn.
I ignored him.
Because my thoughts were a battlefield.
Theo Vinter.
A man whose affection was never meant to point toward me. A man in the original game is forced to love Sera. A man who was never supposed to bend—not for anyone.
And yet today… He handed me 10,000 gold coins without hesitation.
In this world, gold equaled power. Power equaled advancement. Advancement equaled survival.
