Chapter 143

• I returned to the city in a haze of self-loathing, the weight of my failure crushing me with every step. Everyone could see how distant Adrian remained, even though he, too, was battling his own injuries. He was in pain, but he wouldn’t allow himself the comfort of leaning on me he didn’t want to touch me, let alone speak to me. The tension between us was unmistakable, and it was obvious to everyone why.
• The truth about my actions in Fawnrun City had caught up with me. The ruthless way I had humiliated a young executive, and my direct involvement in the disciplinary scandal that followed, had left me marked both literally and metaphorically. It wasn’t just Adrian who recoiled from me now. The other executives involved in the ordeal treated me with disdain, their glares burning into me every time we crossed paths.
• They knew what I had done. They knew why we were all suffering. They knew what it meant for them and for me that our fates had been tied together in that dark chapter of corporate collapse.