The brake failure alert changed the shape of the morning before sunrise ever touched Ashford Tower.
By six-thirty, Lucien's entire executive route schedule had been rewritten. Security rotated vehicles, reassigned drivers, and replaced the original Route Alpha convoy with an unmarked internal transport unit. The failed car was isolated in the underground bay, where Ashford's forensic team quickly confirmed what Seraphina had already feared.
The brake line had been cut with surgical precision. Not an accident, not random sabotage but a message.
Adrian's pressure was evolving again. He had tested trust through silence, and when Lucien refused to force answers, he shifted back to tangible danger. The threat was no longer an abstract prophecy. It had moved onto the road.
