But it would mean tying myself to Roman’s world forever.

I looked up at Roman.

He was watching me, waiting to see what I would do.

There was no judgment in his eyes, only a quiet, steady gaze that told me he would support whatever choice I made.

I realized then that I didn’t want to run anymore.

I wanted to stand beside him, not as a victim of my father’s debts, but as an equal.

My fingers began to type the first six digits of the secondary key.

Suddenly, the lights in the office flickered and died.

The high-pitched chime of the bank’s security alarm stopped instantly.

The room was plunged into absolute darkness, save for the blue glow of the laptop screen.

Then, the laptop screen went black.

In the silence of the room, my phone vibrated in my pocket.

I pulled it out, the screen illuminating the faces of everyone in the office.

A new message had just arrived from an unknown sender.

It was a live video feed of a black sedan parking outside my mother’s clinic in Switzerland.