The air outside the campus gate felt heavy, charged with a static electricity that made the fine hairs on my arms stand up. Liam didn't sense the atmosphere, his friendly, open demeanor still intact as we reached the curb. He offered a polite, casual wave toward the car, clearly expecting the kind of greeting one gives a guardian or an older family friend, unaware that he was stepping into a minefield of unspoken tension.
"Hi there! I'm Liam, a friend of Chloe's from her classes," he said, his voice bright and open, radiating the kind of normalcy I had been trying to emulate all day.
Nicholas didn't move. He didn't acknowledge the greeting with a nod, a smile, or even a flicker of polite recognition. Instead, he straightened up from the car door, his presence suddenly dominating the enti
