For a heartbeat, there was only the muted sound of Liam’s breathing. Then Elena slowly let go of Liam’s hand, straightened up and turned her eyes landing on Alisha, Alex, Sharon, and Ria standing a few paces away.
“Now” she said, her voice soft but unmistakable “tell me the truth. What happened?”
Ria’s mouth opened, but nothing came out. Sharon shifted her weight, staring hard at the floor tiles. Alex just exhaled through his nose and looked to Alisha, wordlessly passing the burden back to her.
Alisha swallowed hard. She’d kept her hands locked around the lacquered box the whole time, as though the truth itself might leap out if she let go. But now, under Elena’s gaze, there was no point holding it back.
She stepped forward and gently placed the box on the low table near the bed. Her voice trembled as she began, “We didn’t tell you everything because… we didn’t understand it ou
