The car sliced through the late afternoon haze, Los Angeles glowing gold and fractured outside the windows. Alex kept his eyes on the road, his grip steady on the wheel — but his pulse was a drumbeat under the skin.Lily sat beside him, motionless, hands clasped tight in her lap. She hadn’t spoken since they left the estate. The silence wasn’t awkward; it was suffocating. Too many truths. Too many half-answers.Finally, she broke it. “Alex,” she said softly, not looking at him. “She wasn’t lying, was she?”His jaw flexed. He didn’t answer.“About Berlin,” she pressed. “About your father.”A muscle twitched in his cheek. “This isn’t your burden.”“Maybe not,” she said, her voice trembling with restrained anger, “but it’s already mine. She’s using me. Sebastian’s using me. And now I’m caught between a war I don’t even understand. So stop treating me like a bystander.”The car slowed as they hit a red light. Alex’s knuckles whitened against the leather. He exhaled once, long and heavy
Last Updated : 2025-10-28 Read more