Chapter 44: Broken Trust, Bitter Truth
Lena dropped the folder like it had burned her fingers. Her pulse thundered in her ears as she took a step back from Jay, suddenly unsure of who he really was.
“You knew,” she whispered. “You knew I was being watched. That Elijah thought I was a threat.”
Jay didn’t move. His face was unreadable, lips pressed into a hard line. “I didn’t want you to ever see that.”
“That doesn’t answer anything!” she snapped, voice cracking. “You let me walk into this storm blind while you kept secrets like this buried in drawers!”
Jay ran a hand through his hair, pacing now. “I didn’t believe what Elijah believed. He was paranoid at the end. He trusted no one, not even me.”
“And yet,” Lena said coldly, “you kept the file.”
He froze. “Because a part of me feared.
