Chapter 41: The First Fracture and Starlight Key

Elina’s POV

The office door clicked shut behind Ryan, leaving a heavy silence in its wake.

He had received an urgent call in the middle of all this tension and just as quietly as he had come, he left.

Without saying a single word to me.

Was the call really that urgent? Or was he just that annoyed with me—that he couldn’t even look at me?

But that was a question for later.

Right now, only one thing burned in my mind.

I wasn’t going to let Isaac drop a line like that—something clearly important, clearly deliberate—and then just walk away like it meant nothing.

I needed answers. And I wasn’t leaving without them.

“Isaac,” I said, my voice sharp and steady, “what’s the one thing I need? Don’t play games with me.”

He sighed, adjusted his glasses, and gestured toward a chair across from him.

“Sit, Elina. This is bigger than you realize.”

I hesitated for half a second, then sat, clasping my hands tightly in my lap. My fingers were colder than I expected.