A heavy, suffocating silence filled the interior of the vehicle as Luca sat completely frozen, drowning in a treacherous whirlpool of overthinking. "Why am I structurally barred from even stepping into her presence right now? A simple face-to-face interaction shouldn't be this impossible. Is it highly probable that Raymond has already launched his maneuvers and explicitly prohibited her from maintaining contact with me?"
The young operative had executed a direct approach by invading Phoebe's corporate headquarters, only to be flattened by a brutal, uncompromising rejection from the front desk receptionists. Even the luxury of securing a brief dialogue with Zara had been systematically denied to him.
"Ah, damn you to hell!"
