CHAPTER 2 — THE DOOR THAT DIDN’T LOCK ANYMORE
CHAPTER 2 — THE DOOR THAT DIDN’T LOCK ANYMORE
Matthew returned twenty-three minutes later.
Not alone.
Lauren was with him.
Her heels clicked confidently across the marble like she owned the air itself.
“You’re overreacting,” Matthew said before he even saw me properly. “I told you to clean yourself up.”
Then he stopped.
His eyes landed on the blood on the floor.
The broken orchids.
The cane still resting on the sofa.
Something in his expression flickered.
“Clare…” Lauren murmured, suddenly uncertain. “What happened?”
I laughed once.
It hurt too much to do it twice.
Matthew stepped forward. “What did you do?”
I tried to answer, but the elevator chimed again.
This time, it didn’t feel like an arrival.
It felt like judgment.
The doors opened.
Three men in dark suits stepped out first.
Then my father.
He didn’t look at me immediately.
He looked at the room.
At the damage.
At the cane.
At Matthew.
And only then did he speak.
“So this is him.”
Matthew straightened instantly, instinctively adjusting his posture. “Mr. Sterling, I can explain—”
“You will,” my father said calmly. “But not to me.”
He turned slightly.
“Henderson.”
A man behind him opened a briefcase.
Inside were documents already signed.
Already executed.
Already irreversible.
Matthew frowned. “What is this?”
May you like
My father finally looked at him directly.
“Your extinction.”
