Is that really all of it? she wondered. It feels like there’s still more he’s not saying. Like he’s holding something back.
But she didn’t ask. She could see it in his eyes, how hard it had already been for him to say what he had. She didn’t want to push him. Not yet.
So instead, she offered a small smile.
The rest of the evening passed more gently.
After all the heavy truths Darius had just shared, Cassandra could still feel the weight of them lingering in the room, but it was no longer suffocating. Instead of diving deeper into the pain of the past, they quietly let it go for the night, as if they both agreed, silently, that they needed something softer to hold onto for now.
“So,” Cassandra said, tilting her head as she leaned back against the cushions. “What were you like as a teen
