bars.
Inside were divorce papers, a notice of residence transfer, and a single handwritten note from Elara.
You taught me what I looked like through your eyes. Now you will learn what you look like without my protection.
He read it three times.
Behind the gate, far beyond the long driveway, the greenhouse lights glowed softly in the rain.
Elara was inside, trimming orchids again.
Her hands were steady.
Her ring finger was bare.
When Adrian entered, he asked if she wanted the headlines removed from the morning brief.
Elara looked up from the white petals.
‘No,’ she said. ‘Let him read them.’
Then she returned to her work, calm as dawn.
Because Julian Thorn had wanted the world to see him beside power.
Instead, the world watched power walk away from him.
