Emily couldn't sleep.
It was three in the morning, and Alexander was finally resting after another eighteen-hour day spent systematically dismantling The Vanguard's operations. She watched him sleep, his face softer in repose but still carrying the tension of someone who never truly let his guard down.
Her wrist rested against her chest, the platinum bracelet a constant presence. Alexander's name. His mark. His claim.
But as Emily stared at his sleeping form, she realized something that should have terrified her but instead felt like inevitable truth: she wasn't just wearing his mark anymore.
She had become just as obsessed with him as he was with her.
It had started small. Checking her phone constantly when they were apart, needing to know he was safe. Feeling genuine rage when board members questioned his judgment. Studying The Vanguard's documents not because she was curious, but because she needed to understand the threats against him.
