I knew the call was important. The way Alexander's hand had tightened around mine when the phone rang, the hesitation in his eyeshe had sensed it too. Whatever news was coming, it wasn’t going to be easy.
But when he answered, his voice calm but firm, I could feel my stomach twist into a knot. The music around us, the chatter of our friends, the clinking of glasses of it seemed to fade into a muffled blur, as if the world was holding its breath alongside me. We had come so far. But now, standing here, in front of the people we loved, there was this underlying tension that threatened to unspool everything we had worked so hard for.
Alexander’s gaze never left mine as he spoke into the phone, his voice low but authoritative. “Yes. I understand. No, we won’t move forward without reviewing the new terms. I’ll speak with her directly.”
I held my breath. He was too controlled, too composed, and yet I could see the lines of stress forming around his eyes, the tension in his jaw. Whatever thi
