Look but Don't Choke

The rule was simple: Look, but don't choke. For Alyssa Carter, it was the only rule that mattered in a world that had become increasingly difficult to navigate. She learned it early, on the streets of the city, where the line between survival and disaster was razor-thin. The game was all about knowing when to watch, when to wait, and when to make your move-because sometimes, making the wrong choice could cost you everything. But Alyssa wasn't just a player in the game-she was someone who played it like an art form. A quick glance, a calculated step, a single breath taken at just the right moment. She knew how to read people, how to read the room, and how to make sure she was always one step ahead. But that didn't stop her from occasionally getting too close to the edge. Tonight, the stakes were higher than ever. A new opportunity had surfaced, one that promised to change everything. It wasn't a simple job. No, this was bigger-a chance to step into a world of high-stakes deals, power brokers, and secrets that could make or break a person in a single move. The kind of world where everything was earned, and nothing was ever given for free. Alyssa wasn't foolish. She knew the risks. But she also knew that, sometimes, the biggest risk was not taking a chance at all. As she walked into the exclusive nightclub where the deal was set to unfold, her senses were on high alert. The air was thick with tension, a room full of the city's most influential people, each of them playing their own game, each of them unaware that tonight, Alyssa was the one with the advantage. But there was a problem. She had learned to look. To stay focused. But when she caught his eyes across the room-Ethan King, the most dangerous man she had ever met-the world seemed to stop. She felt it. The pull. The temptation to look longer, to let herself drown in the mystery of him. But that, she knew, was where everything could go wrong. Look, but don't choke. Alyssa had lived by that rule her whole life. And tonight, she was about to find out how far she could push it before it snapped back at her.