The message stayed with Violet longer than she wanted to admit. It wasn’t just the words, it was the certainty behind them. Vanessa wasn’t the type to bluff, and that made everything feel like it was only getting started instead of settling down. Violet tried to push it to the back of her mind as she sat in the library, focusing on her notes, but her attention kept slipping. For the first time in days, it wasn’t Marcelo or Daniel occupying her thoughts. It was anticipation. The kind that made everything feel slightly off.
By the time Daniel arrived, she had already read the same paragraph three times without taking any of it in. He noticed immediately, dropping his bag into the chair across from her and watching her a little more carefully than usual. He didn’t ask right away, which she a
