Morning sunlight streamed through the car window in fractured beams, filtered through the tinted glass like golden lace. Elizabeth sat in the back seat, unmoving, elegant as ever. Her posture was perfectly straight, one leg crossed over the other, her chin slightly tilted—cold, distant, untouched by the world outside.
The engine hummed quietly beneath her feet, the only sound in her bubble of silence. The city was already alive with chaos. Horns blared. Vendors shouted. People rushed past, chasing time. But inside the car, time moved differently. Slower. Quieter. More suffocating.
She had finished breakfast in silence that morning, as usual. Her father had already left for his endless meetings, her home echoing with absence more than life. Now, as the driver navigated toward the university, she stared blankly outside, already dreading the day ahead.
The car rolled to a smooth stop at a red light.
Something tugged at her attention.
Across the street, a young girl—barely sixteen—was struggling to push an elderly woman in a wheelchair. The traffic was merciless, a river of metal and impatience. Cars zoomed past without a single brake light flickering. The girl tried again, stepping forward.
Elizabeth's brows furrowed.
No one stopped.
No one cared.
Until—
A sleek, black car suddenly turned sharply, blocking the traffic with a decisive stop. Horns erupted in angry confusion. The driver beside them cursed under his breath. "Idiot... gonna get himself killed."
But Elizabeth wasn't looking at the driver.
She was looking at the figure stepping out of the car.
White hair caught the sunlight like snow under fire. A tall frame, shoulders broad and effortless. Not a bodybuilder's kind of strength—but the kind that came from control. Precision. Power.
Niklaus.
He stepped forward like he didn't care about the chaos he'd just caused. The shouting. The honking. None of it touched him. His blue eyes swept the intersection with a look that made people shrink into themselves. As if he wasn't looking at them—he was looking through them. And it made them fall silent, one by one.
Elizabeth's breath caught.
She watched him kneel beside the wheelchair, exchange a few words with the young girl, and gently take the handles. The girl's expression was a mix of awe and disbelief, like she was in the presence of something unreal.
Then he smiled at her.
A soft, warm smile.
And Elizabeth's chest suddenly… hurt.
She didn't know why.
She didn't want to know why.
The girl blushed. Nik nodded politely when she tried to thank him, waving off her invitation for lunch with a small shake of his head. He returned to his car, as if none of it mattered.
But it did.
It mattered to Elizabeth.
Because something about that smile burned into her vision like sunlight after a long night.
The light turned green. Her driver resumed driving.
But Elizabeth sat still—frozen, breathless.
Her fingers trembled slightly on the hem of her skirt. Her heart was beating too fast, too loud.
And she hated it.
When her eyes finally left the empty space where his car had been, she leaned back and closed her eyes.
Why am I like this?
She didn't understand. She didn't like this unfamiliar ache in her chest. It wasn't jealousy. She didn't get jealous. It wasn't longing. She didn't long for anyone.
It was… something else.
Something dangerous.
Something she couldn't name.
And couldn't stop.
She clenched her jaw, trying to swallow it down. Her pulse refused to calm.
Her eyes slowly opened again, staring at her own faint reflection in the window.
I don't like this feeling.
And yet... it's already inside me.