Back to before...
"I said... did you follow me?" Alice's voice cracked louder this time, urgent. Fear layered under the fury.
Dawin didn't flinch. Didn't blink.
"Yes."
The word landed like a thunderclap.
She stared at him. Horrified.
His honesty... calm, deliberate... was worse than any excuse. Worse than a lie.
It felt like standing beside a sleeping predator that had just opened its eyes.
Alice took a step back, her breath catching in her throat. She couldn't process it.
She was fresh from the terror of Nicholas's office, still reeling from the violent encounter.
The emotional wounds were still raw, and Dawin's casual confession was like salt poured over them. Her mind, already fragile, struggled to make sense of this new threat. She felt a familiar panic rising, but this time, it was mixed with a disorienting helplessness.
This was Dawin.
The one who had always seemed so watchful, so quiet, so completely unreadable.
