Bella’s POV
The ride was uncomfortable in a way I couldn’t explain properly at first.
It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t chaotic. It was worse than that.
It was controlled silence.
Ethan didn’t speak much after we got into the car. Molly tried once or twice to lighten the mood—small comments, little laughs—but they didn’t land. He answered in short, clipped words or didn’t answer at all.
But the worst part wasn’t even the silence.
It was the mirror.
Every few seconds, I caught it.
The rearview mirror shifted slightly with the movement of the car, and every time it did, I saw his eyes.
Ethan wasn’t supposed to be looking at me. Not like that. Not repeatedly.
But he was.
Not quick glances either. It was steady. Focused. Like I was something he was trying to figure out, piece by piece, with
