Part 113
Something in Alex's eyes had changed.
Adrian noticed it the moment she handed him his tea. Her smile was still there — soft, measured, the kind of smile that once disarmed him — but behind it, something flickered. Quiet calculation.
He took the cup carefully, forcing his hands not to shake.
"You've been quiet today," she said, sitting across from him.
He gave her a small shrug.
"Just tired."
She nodded, taking a sip of her own tea, and kept her gaze on him for a little too long.
Adrian forced himself to keep his breathing steady. She knows something. Maybe not everything yet — but enough to feel that something was off.
The notebook. That must've been it.
He'd been too careless the night before when he encoded his message.
Every line had been written in a way only his lyricist friends could recognize — the same structure they'd used during their tours when sending secret drafts.
It wasn't much, just a verse about "the sky that never sleeps," but to the right people, it meant one thing: I'm alive.
He looked up at Alex again.
She was stirring her tea absently now, watching him in that quiet, unreadable way that made his skin crawl.
He had to move carefully.
If she suspected him, everything would collapse before he could be found.
"Do you want me to play the piano today?" he asked suddenly.
Her expression softened — just a little. "You want to play?"
"Yeah. Maybe it'll help me think."
He smiled faintly, the same kind of smile he used on stage — the one that could mask exhaustion, heartbreak, even fear.
And it worked. He saw her shoulders ease just slightly.
When she turned to put her cup in the sink, Adrian allowed himself a slow, steady exhale.
He still had time.
Not much — but enough.
He needed another message out, something more direct, something that would make them come faster.
For now, though, he sat at the piano and let his fingers trace across the keys. A soft melody filled the air — haunting, slow, and beautifully tragic.
A song of goodbye disguised as love.
And Aura, standing just a few steps behind him, smiled as if she believed every note was for her