Hidden Billion Hearts

reshly brewed coffee clung t

e dropped her bag behind the counter, shrugged off her cardigan, and stood there for a moment, breathing it all in - the musk of leat

grandmother's dream. No

one, washing the shelves in a soft, golden glow. She straightened a crooked stack of poetry collections, thu

s. It wasn't flash

g bigger, shinier, louder. Elara had tried that once. A corporate job with deadlines sh

open two years ago, leav

e. A life where happiness didn'

tered journal. Another ritual: five minutes of writ

entry wa

s don't wa

cottage wi

on the

ared over

tly, snapping t

wrapped in a thick scarf despite the lingering heat. Elara offered her

eady, the rhythm of her life as pr

alone under the inky sky, a strange restlessness unfur

he edge of

head back, gazi

them softly, as if d

ld was racing toward riches

n't need

ey, a cat,

ht stubbornly,

funny way of laughing a

already setting somethi

, no amount of simple living would save

___

ide his penthouse window - all gla

le. A cold breakfast sat untouched in front of him: fresh ber

move. Di

black leather notebook tow

ers before he pressed it to the

of loneliness m

unger power

built e

all I want is

uiet snap. It was pathetic, maybe - a trillionaire scribbling half-poetic

new him by

ogul. Ghost

ooms and galas like a phanto

wasn't suppose

dy had e

they

pace with an effortless grace. Everything about him was sleek, controlled, deliberate. The dark, tailored

r opened at

bowed, not a single one

efficiency, sharp intelligence, the casual lethality of a

polished armor, somet

Wolfe Tower - people parting like waves bef

thousand obligations wrapped a

deep inside him,

for

or we

ng he hadn't even dared to

sently, the morning sun catc

Money.

eaningless without some

fe had conque

nd the one thing he c

t

r fingers and a bookstore in her soul tur

as already moving the