Marcus Aurelius’ POV

I always found it amusing how people mistook silence for defeat.

I learned early on that the person who talks too much loses control of the narrative. The world belongs to those who observe, wait, and act at exactly the right moment. That was how it had always worked for me.

Isabelle had survived.

So had Isaac.

It was a lesson I already knew. You should never trust other people to do a job properly. Even so, the story had been perfect. A robbery in a distant neighb