POV: Kai

I watched Nova stare at her phone, her face cycling through emotions too fast to track. Fear. Anger. Something that looked like determination.

"What is it?" I asked.

She handed me the phone. I read the message—anonymous, cruel, designed to break her down.

You're over, Nova Black. Washed up. Finished.

"Darren," I said immediately. "This has his fingerprints all over it."

"He's in jail."

"With access to phones. To contacts. To people who owe him favors." I set her phone aside. "He's trying to manipulate you even from behind bars."

Dr. Reynolds cleared her throat gently. "Should I... come back another time?"

Nova looked at me. I saw...