CHAPTER 29
Steph dropped her phone twice that morning.
Once in the bathroom, once in the kitchen.
I didn’t say anything either time. I just walked past—slowly, calmly, deliberately. Gave her a glance. Not sharp. Not soft. Just enough.
Enough to rattle something deep in her chest.
She used to talk so loud around me. Laugh too hard. Overshare.
Now, she stammers when we cross paths. Like she’s waiting for me to accuse her of something.
I won’t.
She doesn’t deserve the clarity.
⸻
I hear them whisper about me now.
Tina’s voice was low, strained behind Steph’s bedroom door.
“She saw us,” she said. “Me and Chen.”
I sat at the bottom of the stairs while they talked about me like I wasn’t real. Like I was a haunting they didn’t expect to last this long.
“Not a word,” Steph said.
No,
