Ryan looked at her. His brows lifted slightly. Not in surprise but more like acknowledgment.
"Is there anything else?" he asked.
The question was neutral. The kind of tone people used when they wanted a conversation to end without saying they wanted it to end.
Sylvie opened her mouth to say something.
A dozen thoughts rushed forward at once, questions, apologies, explanations, emotions she hadn’t sorted through yet. They tangled together, refusing to form words. She swallowed.
"No," she said quietly.
Ryan nodded once. A single, decisive movement. He didn’t linger or hesitate. He turned and walked past her, his shoulder brushing close enough that she felt the shift of air as he passed.
For a brief moment, her body froze.
She stood there, still as a statue, holding her breath without
