The front door clicks shut behind my parents, leaving a silence so heavy it feels like it could crush me. Oliver stands across the room, his presence a cold shadow that fills the space between us. We haven’t spoken much since my father’s probing questions, and the air is thick with everything left unsaid. His words about the contract—about my father’s threat to kill him—echo in my mind, a chilling weight that presses against my chest. I can’t let this moment slip away, not when the truth is so close, raw and jagged.
I cross my arms, my eyes locking onto his, defiance burning through my veins. “Are we going to finish this conversation, or are you just going to run away like always?” My voice is sharp, challenging, cutting through the suffocating quiet. I know it’ll get under his skin, and
