The kiss wasn't planned. It never is, when it matters.
They'd been walking home after the student poetry event — Idris was one of the last to read, his words quiet and aching, about leaving home and forgetting how to pray. She'd clapped harder than anyone.
Now the two of them stood under a broken streetlight. The kind that flickered like it couldn't decide whether to stay or leave. She felt the same.
"I used to hate my name," she whispered, the silence between them too loud.
"Why?" Idris asked, stepping a little closer.
"Because people said it sounded too heavy. Too serious. Like it didn't belong to someone who could be soft."
"And now?"
She looked up at him. "Now I'm not sure. But it feels lighter when you say it."
He didn't speak after that.
He just leaned in, and Serene didn't stop him.
The kiss was soft. No teeth. No tongues. Just breath and warmth and his fingers trembling against her wrist like even he couldn't believe this was real.
For a few seconds, it felt like something good would finally last.
She didn't know, of course, that in that exact moment…
Roman Ashborne stood in front of a wall of screens.
And he finally stopped watching.
He didn't blink. Didn't speak.
Lelo sat on the floor beside him, sketching something quietly.
"I think she wants to give him a baby," Lelo whispered, eyes wide.
Roman exhaled — once. Slowly.
And smiled.
---
That night, Serene dreamt of a child.
A small boy with her eyes and Idris' mouth. His skin soft and warm, his laughter echoing in some house she'd never seen. She dreamt of a crib. A sunlit kitchen. A pair of tiny hands tugging on her sleeve.
She woke up smiling.
She didn't know the footage of that smile had already been captured. Archived. Labelled "Corruption – Level 3."
She didn't know her future had already been decided.
---
At the Ashborne estate, Roman walked through the west wing — a space no one but him ever entered.
The room was already prepared.
Photos. Clothing. An exact replica of Serene's old apartment.
A bed that still smelled faintly like her.
Roman stood at the center of the room and closed his eyes.
"She thinks she's in love," he said aloud.
His voice didn't waver.
"Then we'll give her what love really is."
Lelo appeared at the doorway, hugging a doll to her chest.
"Can I help?"
He turned to her.
"You'll bring her the note."
The girl grinned.
"What should it say?"
Roman's lips curled into something cold.
> "You've had your fun. Now come home."
--