Valerie went still. This time, she didn't deny it. She didn't smile. She didn't offer the familiar deflection.
Only silence.
And within that silence, for the first time in a long while, Valerie felt that someone truly saw her not as the Duke's woman, not as a figure endlessly discussed by others, but simply as herself.
Ethan let out a quiet breath, as if carefully weighing his own words."I'm sorry, Valerie," he said at last. "I didn't mean to offend you. It's just that… from the way you speak, from the way you fall silent, it seems you truly aren't happy."
Valerie lowered her gaze. Her fingers stopped turning the handle of the cup."I know," she murmured. "I just… don't know what to say. These feelings are too complicated to be explained with simple words."
