The ceiling above me was unfamiliar.
Dim. Pale. Still flickering with the dying pulse of a fluorescent bulb.
My fingers twitched, and pain shot up my hand—the stab wound burned with every breath. My other hand curled slowly into a fist, remembering the sound… the sickening silence after the scream was gone. Her scream. Her silence.
"You're awake..." came a voice, quiet and shaken.
I turned my head slowly. She was sitting there—knees pulled close, her gaze wary, guilt stitched into the corners of her eyes. But I didn't answer.
I stood.
Every part of my body ached, my legs trembled under the weight of exhaustion, pain, rage—but I stood. Walked forward. And before she could even flinch—
Thud.
Her back hit the wall.
My hand was around her throat. Not tight. Just enough. Enough to press the question she refused to answer.
"Why didn't you tell me I was the Proxy?"
Her breath hitched. Her eyes widened—not in surprise, but fear. The kind of fear that knew this moment would come.
"I..." she stammered, her voice cracking, "...because—"
"No," I said coldly, my grip relaxing as I stepped back. "No. It's fine. It's my fault."
She blinked.
I turned my back to her.
"It all makes sense now," I whispered, to her… to myself. "I remember everything. I was never the pawn. I was always the one dealing the cards."
And then the memories hit—sharp, precise, like turning pages I had written myself.
Flashback
The karaoke room echoed with fake laughter, muffled conversation. I'd left just the right trace for Penance to follow—just a note with one sentence. "Something Interesting will happen near the kareoke"
He arrived precisely on cue.
Behind the glass, Kara, Selene and me were already playing their roles.
"She has the doctor card," Kara whispered, believing no one was listening.
Penance heard everything. He was supposed to.
I needed him to use her.
A lie only works if you control the timing.
Flashback
The Thief was a difficult piece. Damien Cord—restless, too observant. He nearly went to the Lawyer. I had to redirect him. The lawyer is a different part of the plan.
A single whisper. A single trace. A planted note under the bar table. And when he saw the note on the ground stating "The lawyer is near at room 501."
It led him not to the Lawyer—but to the Mafia room instead. Where the bruises and business awaited.
He got sided on the mafia. Not the one he was supposed to.
Exactly as I needed.
Flashback
The Mafia thought they were two steps ahead.
He thought I didn't know he was watching us.
That locked room, that false choice... the Reporter, the Girl, and me.
But his eyes betrayed it. Confusion. Frustration. He didn't know who was playing him.
He was beginning to suspect... but couldn't see past the smokescreen.
He didn't realize that every move he made was pre-designed.
That he was the one on stage dancing for an invisible audience.
Flashback
The Hitman. Silent. Brutal. Reliable.
And dangerous.
I needed him to disappear without leaving a trace.
So I lured him.
The Soldier was already restless. I fed him just enough evidence, made it look like Crow was tailing him.
Room 509. That's where I guided him making him think that the mafia set him a task to kill the cop but in reality it was the soldier's room.
Only one of them left that room alive.
End Flashbacks
I ran a hand through my hair, breathing steady, the wound in my palm a reminder of failure—but everything else?
That was control.
The Girl was still staring at me, frozen against the wall.
"You… remember it all?" she asked, voice small.
I turned to her slowly, and for the first time, I let her see what I truly was.
Not a survivor.
Not a victim.
Not just another player.
"I built this stage," I said, eyes cold, voice like ice against steel. "Every scream, every lie, every death. I may have been quiet… but I was always writing the next act."
She said nothing.
Just watched.
Scared? Impressed?
I didn't care anymore.
Because in that moment, I realized what I had become.
I was the Proxy. Not just in name.
I was the one who mirrored what people wanted to see.
But behind that mirror… was me.
The architect of Velvet Moon.
And the next chapter?
Would be mine.