Pamela froze. Josias hadn’t just guessed; he had practically laid the truth bare. In that silence, her mind raced through the variables. His question could only mean two things:
He already knew the truth and was testing her to see if she’d be honest, or...
He was truly in the dark and was simply following a hunch.
Josias watched her intensely, his eyes searching her face for the subtle shift between surprise and genuine fear.
To break the tension, and thankful that the hallway was momentarily empty, Pamela decided to double down on the second option. She took a breath and looked him in the eye.
“No, Josias! It wasn’t me,” she lied, her voice steadying.
“Then why did you look so rattled when I asked?”
“Because Melissa told me how frustrated your first meeting with her father was!” Pa
