Violet’s breath caught in her chest, the weight of his question pressing down on her harder than any touch. The scenary felt unbearably still, every sound, the faint hum of the wind and the cricket , the distant honks of the cars passing by, dissolving into silence. His gaze pinned her in place, steady and unyielding, as though he could see through every wall she had carefully built. She wanted to speak, to offer him the truth he deserved, yet the words tangled at the edge of her tongue like thorns. Violet realized that silence could be louder, more dangerous, than any lie.
There were still so many truths locked inside her, truths she had never dared to give voice to. It wasn’t simply a matter of trust, though his eyes pleaded for it; it was the weight of secrets that belonged not only to
