CHAPTER 42: THE FIRST CRACK
The next morning, I woke up with Marcus still on my mind. His face, the fear in his eyes, the way his voice had lowered when he warned me to stop asking questions, it all stayed with me like a shadow I couldn’t shake. Some people lie because they want power. Others lie because truth is dangerous. Marcus was the second kind. He wasn’t protecting himself because he was loyal. He was protecting himself because he was terrified. And terrified people were unpredictable. They could run, betray, disappear, or finally decide they were too tired to keep carrying fear alone. I stood in the kitchen making breakfast for the children, moving through the routine automatically while my thoughts stayed somewhere else entirely. Paul walked in quietly, already dressed, already
