Chapter 20: EMPTY SPACE

Throwing on a simple black t-shirt and jeans, I slipped out of my flat and locked the door securely behind me. I ascended the quiet concrete stairs and stopped right in front of her apartment. Taking a deep breath to settle into character, I knocked firmly on the wood and waited, listening to the muffled footsteps slowly approaching from the other side.

The door swung open, and Sarah greeted me. My smile faltered slightly. She was already dressed in her formal work attire. I thought she had the entire day off, which was the only reason I’d dragged myself out of bed so early. Fuck me, her shift changed? That was definitely bad news for my afternoon plans.

"Oh, Chance!" she smiled warmly, tilting her head to the right as she frantically fastened a silver earring. "I’m so sorry, but I think we’re going to have to push that pizza party back a bit. The office just called me in to cover an emergency slot."

"Really?" I asked, instantly forcing a disappointed but understanding smile onto my face. "Ah, that’s a total shame. But sure, don’t worry about it."

"Thanks for understanding," she said, stepping out onto the landing and pulling the door behind her.

As she pulled it, her fingers slicked right off the brass doorknob. The door swung shut with a light click anyway, and she immediately knelt down to slip into her work shoes. Standing directly behind her, I had a perfect view. As she leaned forward to adjust the heel of her shoe, her low neckline shifted entirely, exposing the lace pattern of a bright pink bra and the heavy, soft swell of her cleavage.

Fucking slut... soon, though. Very soon.

"Welp, I’m officially off," she sighed, standing back up and smoothing out her skirt.

"I figured Hubert would’ve driven you into the city," I noted casually, fishing for information.

She let out a heavy, frustrated breath. "He couldn’t be bothered to wait five minutes for me to get ready. I guess his morning meetings are just way too important."

"Yeah... I don’t think so, but sure," I replied, letting a touch of sympathy color my voice to contrast her husband’s selfishness.

She smiled gratefully, reaching out to brush her hand against my shoulder before waving as she turned toward the stairs. "I really can’t be late. Bye, Chance!"

"Yep. Catch you later."

I stood perfectly still on the landing, watching her figure disappear down the stairwell. The moment the main building door clicked closed below, I turned my gaze back to her apartment door. It wasn’t fully latched. I had noticed it the exact moment her hand slipped off the knob; the internal tongue hadn’t properly seated into the strike plate.

A literal open invitation.

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OPPORTUNITY DETECTED

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[ SUGGESTED ACTION ]

Be a noisy neighbor. Investigate

the unattended apartment.

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COST: 20 Lust

EST. GAIN: ???

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I pushed the wood open, slid inside the quiet flat, and shut the door silently behind me. The moment the lock engaged, a system ping resonated in my ears, awarding me a quick 40 Sinpoints. That officially brought my total balance up to 480 SP.

I walked into the dark living room, looking around the empty space before making my way down the short corridor. I pushed the first door open, the bathroom. Nothing useful. Moving to the next frame, I pushed the second door wide open and stepped through. Bingo. The master bedroom stretched out before me.

The room was dominated by a large queen-sized bed made with a stiff, dark navy comforter that practically screamed Hubert’s rigid taste. A matching dresser sat against the far wall, flanked by a tall mirror, while a scent of cheap men’s cologne lingered faintly in the air. The space felt sterile, completely lacking any personal touch from Sarah.

"Hmm," I muttered, checking over my shoulder. "Now, now, Hubert. Let’s see what kind of dirt you’re hiding in here."

╭━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━╮

OPPORTUNITY DETECTED

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[ SUGGESTED ACTION ]

Search for hidden items inside

the master nightstand.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

COST: 20 Lust

EST. GAIN: ???

╰━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━╯

Following the system’s precise tracking, I walked over to the wooden nightstand on Hubert’s side of the bed and yanked open the top drawer. It was filled with standard junk, rolled-up work socks, loose receipts, and charging cables. I crouched down and pulled open the second tier, finding nothing but basic household medicine, loose aspirin sheets, and a couple of old watch boxes. Nothing incriminating. I moved to the lowest drawer and dragged it out.

"Fucking nothing," I grumbled, staring at the empty space.