Jayden offered no answer, his silence heavy and impenetrable as he stood near the threshold. As Sarah took a timid step closer, a flicker of profound confusion crossed his sharp face, his dark features tightening with an unreadable conflict that seemed to pull at his very soul. Sensing the subtle shift in the air, Sarah instinctively turned her gaze toward Keith, who met her anxious eyes with an effortlessly smooth, lingering smile—a look dripping with quiet triumph and undisputed arrogance.
An agonizing wave of awkwardness washed over Sarah, heavy enough to drown her where she stood. Her pulse hammered wildly against her ribs like a trapped bird, her throat constricting so tightly that her breath hitched in her chest. A suffocating, unbearable silence stretched between them for a few agonizing seconds before she managed to part her dry lips and force out a fragile, trembling breath into the cold air.
"Keith..."
