Alex Krasnov rested against the hand-stitched leather of his Rolls-Royce Phantom, watching the city smear itself into streaks of light beyond the tinted glass.

Towers of steel and neon rose and fell like monuments to ambition—monuments he had helped build. At thirty-five, Alex was the definition of modern success: a self-made tech billionaire, celebrated in magazines, envied in boardrooms, surrounded by luxuries most people only saw on screens. And yet, beneath the tailored suits and private flights, there was a hollowness he could no longer ignore.

That evening, the silence pressed in harder than usual. A rare Scotch, older than many of his employees, sat untouched in his hand. It failed to dull the memory that had resurfaced uninvited: Sofia. The woman from his university years. The one person who had known him before the money, before the headlines, before ambition hardened into obsession. Five years had passed since he walked away, convincing himself that sacrifice was the price of greatness.

“Seventeen Magnolia Street,” he said suddenly, his voice rough, startling even himself.

The driver glanced at him in the mirror, surprised but professional, and said nothing. The car obeyed, gliding away from glass towers and into quieter streets where ambition didn’t roar—it lingered.

As the Rolls-Royce entered the old neighborhood, the contrast felt almost cruel. Narrow roads, modest homes, porch lights glowing softly. This was a place Alex had tried to erase, because memories were easier to outrun than confront. His chest tightened as the car slowed in front of a small two-story house, its garden trimmed with care rather than money. It looked unchanged, as if time had politely refused to interfere.

Alex stepped out alone, waving off the driver. The air felt different here—cooler, heavier with meaning. Each step along the stone path echoed louder than it should have. The door, weathered and familiar, stood between who he had become and who he once was.

He rang the bell.

Seconds stretched thin, taut with expectation. Then the door opened.

Sofia stood there.

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