The moment Daniel realized Julie was not afraid, the atmosphere inside Matteo Romano's private study changed shape entirely. It was no longer just a room with two people and a briefcase sitting between them. It became something tighter, something more suffocating, like the walls themselves had leaned inward to observe what would happen next.
"She is not afraid?" ... "What exactly is her source of confidence that she stays so bold in this situation?"
Julie did not move immediately, no, she simply watched Daniel with an unsettling calmness, as though she was studying his reactions the way a strategist studies an opponent before a move is made. Her eyes were steady, unreadable, almost detached from emotion.
Daniel, however, had already made his decision "Last warning," he said quie
