The ride back was silent.
Not the comfortable kind.
Not the quiet that settled after a long night.
This silence was… sharp.
Heavy.
Loaded with everything that hadn’t been said.
Lena sat by the window, watching the city blur past, her reflection staring back at her like a stranger.
She could still feel it—
The way Victor had looked at her.
The way Adriana had smiled.
The way Ethan had said yes when she asked if she was in something she didn’t understand.
Her fingers curled slightly in her lap.
“You lied,” she said finally.
Ethan didn’t look at her.
“I told you the truth.”
“No,” Lena replied, turning toward him. “You told me just enough.”
A pause.
Then—
“That’s how negotiations work.”
Her jaw tightened.
“This isn’t a negotiation.”
“It is to me.”
That—
That stung more t
