A Ledger of Lies

The beating stopped, but the damage was already done. An eerie silence swallowed the room, broken only by Gary’s ragged breathing and the ringing in his ears.

He lay on the floor trembling, his pride completely stripped away—too broken to even move, too stunned to fully process what had just happened.

Vance stood over him in calm silence, as if nothing about the scene required urgency or emotion