Chapter Twenty – A Perfect Smile
Sometimes survival means swallowing panic and wearing the mask your enemy wants to see.
Julia stared at the note until her eyes burned.
“Freedom is trust. Don’t break it.”
The words wrapped around her like a noose.
She forced her hands to unclench, forced her breathing steady.
She couldn’t let him see fear. Not now.
She picked up the fallen key, slipped it back into her pocket, and smoothed the sheets of the bed as if she had only come to tidy the room.
In the hallway, she felt the weight of the walls pressing in.
She smiled—too bright, too sudden—when Daniel appeared at the far end.
“There you are,” he said softly. “Exploring?”
Julia lifted the key, let it dangle from her fingers with casual ease.
“Yes. Thank you again. It feels… nice to have a
