Chapter 161

Adrian's POV I had been walking through VM Group's parking garage, car keys in hand, when the first wisps of smoke caught my attention. My visit to my father's office was supposed to be brief—a final conversation before I left for the extended business trip that would hopefully give both of us time to process everything that had happened between our family and the wreckage Nicole had left behind. As I approached the building's side entrance, the smell grew stronger, accompanied by the distant sound of something that might have been shouting from below ground level. That's when I saw her. Nicole emerged from the building's service entrance with movements that were too controlled, too purposeful for someone who should have been anywhere near VM Group's headquarters. She'd been banned from the premises after her arrest, forbidden from setting foot on company property under penalty of additional criminal charges. Yet here she was, moving with the careful precision of someone who had just c