Part 1: The Build-up They were separated by a street, two buildings facing each other like opposing fortresses. The distance was nothing, a crosswalk, a short stroll in the daylight, but to him it felt like a fault line, a stretch of asphalt that hummed with the energy of everything they hadn’t said yet. Candy ran the business floor with a confidence that turned heads. She was sharp, composed, never flustered. Her voice c...