Despite everything, despite Ben’s growing frustration and his thinly veiled impatience, Lena did not change her mind.
Each day she went to work with the same quiet determination, her back straight, her answers short, her limits clearly drawn, even when Ben’s eyes followed her across the office, even when his polite smiles became strained and his compliments sounded more like challenges than kindness. She could feel his irritation simmering beneath the surface, but she refused to bend, because bending now felt like betraying herself at a moment when her life was already fragile enough.
She was tired of explaining herself.
Tired of justifying why “no” was not an invitation for negotiation.
That evening, the tension followed her home.
Lana was waiting in the living room, arms crossed, pa
