Velvet Chains: Will it break?

mbling

tight in her chest like a cornered animal. Outside, rain smudged the city skyline into watercolor ruin. Inside, her father's legacy cra

ht didn't lift. The final notice lay on her cluttered desk, the red

art mattered, that truth on canvas could save a soul. But truth didn't pay the el

e just needed enough to buy time. To keep the lights on. To

er. She ignored it. She didn't have the energy

something about its persistence c

she snatched i

mooth as whiskey poured

name sounded on his tongue - a stranger's v

Who is

l receive an invitation tonight. Read it ca

demand more, the

ry, the rain drumming harder like an omen. She turned toward the door whe

the cold marble that should have been polishe

expensively heavy. She tugged it

si

ight only. Bring your fines

didn't recognize but would so

n Blac

-

curity feed on his phone. A shadow of a smile tugged at his lips as he saw the exact moment Elara bent to pick up his

" Alec's voice drifted from behind him, l

from the screen. Her. He'

plet

- leaned against the marble bar, swirling a glass of re

ian," Julian drawled. "Or she'll gu

obedient and predictable. But Elara Monroe would k

e, she would

contin