The ride back to the Cross estate was painfully quiet.
Not because there was nothing to say.
But because Jacob Cross radiated a suffocating calmness that pressed against Lily's skin like a hand around her throat. He didn't yell. He didn't question. He didn't even look at her.
Which, somehow… was worse.
Lily sat stiffly in the passenger seat, her sprained ankle throbbing faintly. The car hummed along the night road, and the leather seat felt too soft, too warm, too intimate.
The air conditioner blew lightly, filling the cabin with Jacob's faint cedar-and-cold-rain scent.
Lily's thoughts were, unfortunately, not calm.
—(Oh no. Oh no. He's doing the 'silent husband' thing.)
System, translate this level of silence.
[System: Host, based on the male lead's expression, he is 63% jealous, 34% pretending not to be jealous, and 3% considering violence.]
(WHAT KIND OF BREAKDOWN IS THAT?!)
[System: Scientific.]
