Eve
I knew Axel was listening.
He flipped through his puzzle book like he wasn’t paying attention, but I knew better.
He was too calculating not to be listening, too intelligent not to be connecting the dots.
That’s why I deliberately mentioned it.
I wanted to see if he would react—to catch even the slightest shift in his gaze, anything that would confirm he was paying attention.
My heart drummed in my chest as I waited for his eyes to betray something.
Nothing.
Not a twitch, not a glance, not even the faintest acknowledgment.
I swallowed hard, hating the growing ache of disappointment.
His fingers glided across the page as he solved whatever problem was in front of him.
Maybe I was shooting myself in the foot, revealing too much too soon. Every word I spoke felt like a reckless gamble. I was playing with fire by mentioning my estate so openly, dangling a thread that, if pulled, could expose everything I had so carefully hidden.
If Shahar dug deeper, my cover could be blown. The thoug
