Chapter 9: Emma’s Betrayal (0x09EB)

The apartment is too quiet. You know that kind of quiet—the kind that isn’t peaceful, isn’t calming. No, this is the kind of quiet that’s got teeth. It’s the kind that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, makes your gut twist, tells you that something’s coming. And not the good kind of something.

I close the door behind me, the sound echoing too loud in the stillness. The rain outside is a constant hiss, like the city’s trying to drown out whatever’s about to happen in here. But it can’t. There’s no escaping it.

I should’ve seen this coming. Hell, I did see it coming. But knowing something’s about to hit the fan and actually facing it head-on—two very different beasts.

Emma’s standing in the living room, arms crossed, her eyes locked on me the second I walk in. She’s got that look on her face, the one that says she’s been waiting for this, stewing in whatever twisted thoughts have been churning in her mind. And me? I’m the poor bastard who just walked into the lion’s den