While hers had just stopped.
“Why are you calling me?”
Straight to it.
No energy left for games.
Another pause.
Longer this time.
“I think… we need to talk.”
Of course.
Of course now she wanted to talk.
Her grip on the phone tightened.
“We’ve been talking,” she said quietly.
Her eyes flicked up—to him.
Still there.
Still watching.
Still silent.
“No,” the voice replied.
“Not like this.”
A crack.
Small.
But real.
“I didn’t want you to find out this way.”
There it was.
Confirmation.
Clean.
Undeniable.
Her stomach twisted violently.
“So there was a way?” she whispered.
