Echoes in the Ember
[RAINCORP HQ | Next Morning | Conference Room | 9:17 AM | Glass, tension, and fresh coffee that solves nothing]
Velvet Elenor
(texting Lyra)
Velvet Elenor
Kael’s more haunted than high-rise glass and cold brew.” “And Dante? Trouble. Hot trouble.
Lyra Vienne
Girl. Spill.” “Wait—is this the plot twist where you fall for both?* texting back *
Velvet Elenor
“This isn’t a rom-com. It’s war.”
I shouldn’t care.
Not about the way Kael looks when no one’s watching.
But something about this place hooks into my ribs like barbed wire.
Something about him feels… unfinished.
And I’m not a girl who leaves pages unturned.
[Same building — different energy. Kael’s penthouse office. Velvet enters unannounced.]
Kael Marcellus
(without looking up)
Kael Marcellus
You’re early.
Velvet Elenor
And you’re still breathing. So I guess I’m not the worst part of your morning.
[He finally looks at her. Eyes dark. Not just tired — disturbed.]
Kael Marcellus
Don’t joke,Miss Velvet. Not today
Velvet Elenor
What happened?
Kael Marcellus
A security breach. Internal. Someone leaked a contact list.
Velvet Elenor
You think it was me?
[Silence. That sharp, loaded silence.]
Kael Marcellus
I don’t want to.
And there it is. The crack.
I came in here armed with sarcasm and iced coffee.
Now I’m the one bleeding trust.
[Knock at the glass. Enter Amara Duvall — elegant, cold, dangerous. Red lips like spilled secrets.]
Amara Duvall
Kael. I warned you about letting stray dogs into your empire.
[Her eyes slice to Velvet. She smiles — poison in a silk bottle.]
[Tension rising like stormclouds.]
Kael Marcellus
This isn’t your fight.
Amara Duvall
It Never was. But it’ll be her funeral.
[She drops a phone on the table. Contact leak. Velvet’s name highlighted.]
Velvet Elenor
(shocked, furious)
Velvet Elenor
That’s fake. Someone’s framing me.
Kael Marcellus
(hesitates)
The evidence— pls leave company
Velvet Elenor
(cutting)
I don’t give a damn about your evidence.
Velvet Elenor
I Gave you truth. You handed me doubt
[She turns, walking out — shoulders stiff, voice breaking.]
She walked away like fire leaving the forest.
And I let her.
Because I’m too broken to follow—
And too selfish to let her burn alone.
[Velvet outside the HQ | Rain starting | Lyra pulls up in her car]
Lyra Vienne
(window down)
You look like you just got stabbed.
Velvet Elenor
Worse. I got betrayed.
Lyra Vienne
Want revenge or wine?
Velvet Elenor
(cold)
Both.
Them think I’m soft.
Let them think I’ll break.
But fire doesn’t beg to stay lit.
It devours.
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