Chapter 129. Confronting VFS

Tristan's POV

The sun had barely risen when I left the house, the sky still steeped in shades of bruised violet and fading charcoal. Elona was resting at the hospital under David’s watchful eye, and Cris had made it clear she wouldn’t sleep until she had the dirt she needed to burn Velvet Fashion Studio to the ground. I let her go do her digging at SNT while I did what I knew best...confronting the beast head-on.

The drive to VFS felt longer than usual, or maybe it was just the thrum of anger in my chest, making everything around me seem slower, duller, and inconsequential. My hands tightened around the steering wheel as I replayed the image of Elona lying unconscious in my arms, pale and bruised. That wasn’t just exhaustion. That was a body pushed too far. And someone needed to be held accountable.

The moment I stepped through the glass doors of