You were passing by an upscale restaurant called Trattoria, its name written in gold filigree above the polished glass doors. Through the wide windows, you saw elegantly dressed patrons basking in warm candlelight, laughter and music spilling out in faint murmurs. The contrast with the quiet, empty street made the scene inside seem almost unreal — like a painting come to life.

Outside, the soft golden light pooled onto the slick pavement, glistening faintly under your boots. It was well past midnight. The air bit with winter's breath, and the full moon hung heavy in a sky scrubbed clean of stars. You wrapped your coat tighter around your frame and quickened your pace, head lowered, breath misting in the air. A dull pressure gnawed at your chest — part fatigue, part unease — but you couldn't name the cause.

Just as you passed the restaurant's entrance, your eyes lifted — perhaps out of curiosity, perhaps instinct — and lingered on the opulence within. A server in pressed black-and-white moved with balletic grace between tables. A woman in silk gloves lifted a crystal glass to her lips. Everything shimmered with expensive detachment.

Then the doors opened with a soft chime.

A group began to emerge, the bell-boy offering a deep bow as he held the door. First came a man — tall, effortlessly striking, with dark tailored clothes that hinted at power rather than wealth. He walked with quiet confidence, his movements fluid, purposeful. His face was carved with control; his cufflinks caught the moonlight as he adjusted them with practiced elegance. He felt like the kind of man who drank vintage wine without needing to speak a word about its price — a man who commanded rooms simply by entering them.

Behind him followed two bodyguards, thickset and alert, scanning the shadows.

And then — something shifted.

A flicker. A barely-perceptible twitch in one guard's posture. Something subtle, something wrong.

You froze. Your breath hitched, and before thought could catch up with instinct, your hand was up — pointing. Your voice tore through the cold air:

"Watch out!"

Time slowed.

The man paused mid-step. The bodyguards tensed. And in that razor-thin moment between silence and chaos, you realized you had just changed everything.