Cyran’s fingers trembled as he scrolled through the stream of accusatory messages that had shattered his morning. He looked gaunt in the half-light: cheeks hollowed, a shadow of stubble curling along his jaw, anxious blue eyes flickering between his phone and the frosted office door. His navy shirt was wrinkled, sleeves shoved up, veins standing out on pale wrists. Every muscle in his shoulders was drawn taut, as if he were bracing for a blow he could neither see nor escape.

The agency had turned predatory. Whispers bloomed in every corridor. Gaven stalked by with a sly, lopsided grin, his eyes lingering too long on Cyran’s strained posture. Rhion glided through the cluster of desks, every curve of her lean frame outlined by a severe charcoal dress, her expression a polished mask—except for the flicker of something wounded when she caught Vessa’s laugh across the room.

Vessa’s eyes met Cyran’s, burning with accusation and longing. Her black jumpsuit hugged her narrow hips, a wild curl falling across her forehead. Her lips, usually curved in teasing confidence, were chewed raw. There was distance now: the kind that made his chest ache.

When the agency’s nerve snapped, it was vicious and sudden. Naela’s voice thundered from behind closed doors. Accusations. Betrayals. Rhion watched the chaos like a queen among ruins, arms folded, knuckles bone-white, acutely aware of the file Gaven had just handed her—a crimson string tying him to her downfall.

That night, the office lay under a haze of cheap fluorescent light and desperation. Vessa arrived breathless in the empty studio, mascara smudged and cheeks glistening, fists jammed into her pockets. Cyran confronted her there, voice hoarse. “You said you’d tell me if anything was wrong. You promised.”

Her laugh was cracked, her words brittle. “And you’d tell me if you weren’t screwing the strategist behind my back?” She shoved him; he didn’t move, eyes burning with helpless pain. “I didn’t…”

“Don’t,” she spat, stepping away before he could reach for her. “You already lied.”

He swallowed, anguish twisting his features, but she was gone, curls whipping behind her, boots echoing down the hall. In that moment, everything in him shattered—he felt it in the way his hand hovered in empty air, fingers curling, aching for a touch that wouldn’t come.

Beneath the harsh light, Vessa found Kas waiting by a rack of costumes, their androgynous frame tense, eyes huge and full of empathy. Their lip quivered as they reached out, voice gentle. “You don’t have to be alone.”

Vessa’s walls crumbled. In the hush of the studio, she pressed her brow to Kas’s, letting herself be held, trembling. Kas’s touch was careful, reverent, sliding up her arms—hesitant but hungry, as if memorizing every line of her form. Vessa’s hands found Kas’s jaw, thumb tracing a line to their mouth, her breaths shallow and uneven. They kissed—a searching, electric collision—Vessa’s body melting against them, desperate for comfort, for absolution, for something that felt like hope.

Clothes fell away: tangled fingers, shivers, Kas’s chest against hers. The air buzzed with want and grief. There were tears on Vessa’s cheeks as she pressed herself to Kas, every kiss a question, every gasp an answer. It was fleeting, raw, two souls stripped to truth—nothing between them but skin and tenderness. When it was over, Vessa lay tangled with Kas, eyes wide and lost, fingers tracing circles on bare skin, heart hammering with guilt and hunger.

Meanwhile, Rhion sat alone in her office, back rigid, eyes glassy. Gaven leaned in the doorway, fingers toying with a USB drive, his smile sharp, predatory. “It’s all coming down, Rhion. You and the golden couple—you’re all exposed.”

She stared at him, blood draining from her face. For the first time, she looked small—just a woman, mask slipping, terror burning through her.

But it was the message that flashed on everyone’s phones at dawn—delivered to every screen in the agency, stark against the darkness—that sent a collective chill through their veins:

ROOFTOP. SUNRISE. ALL SECRETS REVEALED.

To be continued...