The letter slipped from my fingers and fell to the floor. The silence in the room was so heavy that it felt like it could break at any moment. I looked at the paper on the ground, then slowly raised my eyes to Victor. He said nothing. He didn’t move closer or shake his head. He simply stood there, looking pale, with a dark expression I couldn’t understand.
“It’s not true,” I said, my voice shaking. “Please tell me it isn’t true.”
Victor took a small step forward. “Lara…”
“Tell me!” I moved backward until my back hit the bookshelf. “You promised you were on my side. You said you chose me over everything. And all this time, you knew?”
“I didn’t know about this letter,” he replied urgently. “But there are things I haven’t told you. Things I was trying to protect you from.”
“Protect me or
