Aira didn’t answer immediately.
Lucien’s question lingered between them, quiet but heavy, like something fragile suspended in the air—waiting for the smallest movement to shatter.
“When you left… was there anything you didn’t tell me?”
Her grip tightened around the phone.
For a second, she closed her eyes.
Because the truth wasn’t simple.
It wasn’t something that could be given in a single sentence or softened into something harmless.
The truth had weight.
And once spoken, it would not go back to being hidden.
On the other end of the line, Lucien waited.
He didn’t interrupt.
Didn’t push.
But his silence carried expectation.
And something else.
Something unfamiliar.
Uncertainty.
Aira inhaled slowly before finally speaking.
“Yes.”
The word was quiet.
But it landed harder t
