Caro's lips parted, but no sound came out, and the silence that followed Peter's last words pressed down on her like something alive. He did not move away this time, did not give her space to recover, and his gaze held hers with a quiet intensity that made escape impossible. "You went quiet," he said softly, his voice controlled but edged with something deeper. "That usually means you are choosing your words carefully, and right now, that worries me more than anything you could actually say."
"I am not choosing words," she replied, forcing her voice to remain steady even as her chest tightened. "I just do not understand what you are expecting from me." Her fingers curled slightly at her sides as she held his gaze. "You are asking me to explain something I do not have full context for, and you are already convinced there is something wrong."
