Nathan was visible several feet behind her, wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.
The distance and lack of audio made it impossible to tell what they were saying, but their body language was clear enough.
Lena repeatedly wiped at her tears as Nathan appeared to be trying to speak to her.
Then, without warning, Lena turned and hurried toward the elevator.
Nathan immediately chased after her, reaching the elevator just as the doors were closing.
He stopped in front of them, but Lena was already gone.
The camera continued recording.
Nathan remained there for several minutes, staring at the closed elevator doors as though he were hoping they would open again.
Only after nearly five minutes did he finally turn around and walk back toward Apartment 2801.
The footage switched back to the lobby.
Lena emerged from the elevator like someone walking through a dream.
She stopped just inside the entrance, staring through the glass doors at the city beyond.
People brushed past her without slowing, unaware of the young woman standing there as though she had forgotten how to move.
Nearly a minute passed before she finally turned and walked back toward the elevators.
Adrian leaned forward.
“This must be when she returned.”
Another timestamp appeared: 10:59:14 A.M.
The hallway camera came back into view.
The elevator doors opened and Lena stepped out.
This time her movements were noticeably slower.
There was none of the urgency from before, only hesitation as she made her way toward Apartment 2801.
When she reached the door she stopped.
She did not knock.
She did not reach for the handle.
She simply stood there, listening.
The door remained a jar.
Lena stayed in that position for several minutes, her expression changing gradually as she listened to something beyond the door.
Then she lowered her head.
She wiped at her face, took a slow breath, and stepped away from the apartment and she never looked back. New chapters come out on g.com first.
She walked toward the elevator with slow, measured steps, her shoulders slightly slumped, and disappeared inside.
The doors closed behind her and this time she did not return.
The footage ended.
Silence settled over the room.
Adrian released a quiet breath he had not realized he had been holding.
“So she came back to give him another chance.”
Cassian’s gaze remained fixed on the dark screen.
“No.”
Adrian looked at him.
“She came back because she still believed their love was worth fighting for.” Cassian’s voice remained calm, but there was an unusual weight behind it.
“But she didn’t go inside.
She stood outside that door and listened.” His eyes remained on the screen.
“Whatever she heard was enough to make her walk away.”
The room fell silent again.
After a long pause Adrian broke the quiet.
“Should I go through the footage to see who else was inside?”
Cassian finally looked away from the screen.
“No.”
” I don’t need any of that information.” He reached for his phone, his piercing blue eyes lowering to the photograph attached to Lena Hartwell’s profile.
“The truth isn’t inside that apartment anymore, It’s standing alone somewhere in this city.
I intend to hear it from her.”
Since this was his partner, he would rather hear from her personally.
Cassian slipped his phone into the inner pocket of his coat before turning toward the office door.
His expression remained as composed as ever, but Adrian could sense the quiet resolve behind every movement.
Once the Alpha made up his mind about something, very little could persuade him to change it.
Without another word the two men left the room and entered the private elevator reserved exclusively for the executive floor.
Neither man spoke during the journey, and the only sound was the faint mechanical hum accompanying the changing floor numbers.
When the doors finally opened into the underground parking garage, a convoy of black luxury SUVs was already waiting beneath the bright overhead lights.
The drivers stepped forward as soon as they appeared, but Cassian raised a hand, dismissing the formal greetings before anyone could speak.
Outside, the weather had deteriorated considerably.
Thick storm clouds hung low over the city, turning what should have been a bright late morning into something that resembled early evening.
Rain hammered against the concrete entrance of the garage, spilling across the pavement in shimmering streams as water rushed toward the drains.
Cassian climbed into the rear seat of the lead vehicle while Adrian took the front passenger seat beside the driver.
The moment the doors closed, Adrian pulled out his tablet and resumed his work.
His fingers moved quickly across the screen as he accessed the National Pairing Authority’s secure network and submitted a classified location request.
Ordinary citizens had no access to such information, but legally assigned partners were granted limited location privileges during the mandatory seventy-two-hour trial period.
The request still required several layers of verification, yet Adrian’s authorization was recognized almost immediately.
A digital map appeared on the screen.
A single blue marker blinked near the city center.
Adrian studied it for several seconds before speaking.
“She’s still moving.”
Cassian lifted his gaze from the rain-streaked window.
“Where?”
“The Authority’s network places her several metres from Nathan Reeves’ apartment.” Adrian enlarged the map, watching as the blue marker slowly moved along the streets.
“According to the movement logs, she left on foot.”
Cassian’s eyes remained fixed on the screen.
Adrian followed the marker for another moment before adding, “She doesn’t appear to be heading anywhere in particular.”
Cassian’s gaze drifted back to the window.
Beyond the rain-covered glass, traffic crawled through waterlogged intersections while pedestrians hurried beneath umbrellas, each person intent on reaching shelter before the storm worsened.
“Drive,” he said quietly.
The convoy pulled out of the underground garage and merged into the congested traffic.
For several minutes no one spoke.
Adrian continued monitoring the live updates as Lena’s location shifted gradually across the map.