Once Cixi finally unlocked the door to her small apartment, she dropped her bag on the narrow counter and immediately pulled out her phone. She did not bother turning on the main lights. Instead, she scrolled straight to a specific contact and hit dial.
Officer Bill.
He was the detective who had forced Nelson to scrub the deepfake video from her life. In the six agonising months since Cassian's disappearance, they had surprisingly kept in touch. She had even taken the risk of repeatedly asking him to look into Cassian's vanishing.
Cassian was no one to me, Cixi thought, rubbing a tired hand over her face as the line rang. I should just forget him.
But no matter how hard she tried, Cassian remained fixed at the forefront of her mind. Perhaps it was because, amidst all the terrifying chaos in her life, he had been the only person apart from Marion to show her genuine, albeit absurd, kindness.
