جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 40

LENA.It had been days. Not hours, not one or two restless nights where I could still pretend he was busy or distracted or caught up in something temporary. Days. Long enough for silence to stop being an accident and start becoming a decision.Richard hadn’t called. He hadn’t texted. He hadn’t even done the bare minimum of sending one of those empty, useless messages people send when they don’t know what to say but still want to keep a door open.Nothing.And patience, as I had always known and never bothered to fix, was not something I possessed in abundance. In fact, I had reached the end of it somewhere between the second and third day. By now, there was nothing left to stretch, nothing left to pretend with.Whatever softness I had once felt for him—whatever foolish warmth had made me leave Paris for him—burned out completely in that silence.I leaned back against the couch, staring at my phone for a moment longer than necessary before dropping it onto the table with a quiet, annoy

KARENGerald did not knock.He never knocked when it was something serious. When it was routine, he would tap twice, wait for my voice, then come in with a file already open and a sentence halfway out of his mouth. But this time, the door swung open quietly, and he stepped in with that particular walk of his—measured, careful, like every step had been rehearsed.I knew that walk. I recognized it before he had even fully crossed the doorway.Something had dropped. And it was bad.I leaned back slightly in my chair, watching him as he closed the door behind him. He did not rush. He never rushed when he carried bad news. He slowed down instead, as if dragging it out would somehow soften the landing.It never did.“Morning, Gerald,” I said, keeping my voice steady.“Good morning, Ms Karen,” he nodded stiffly. That alone told me enough.“What’s up?” I asked.For a second, he just stood there, like he was deciding where to begin. Then he moved forward and took the seat across from me, placi

KARENJason and I had our first proper argument on a Wednesday night, and the strange thing was that it began over absolutely nothing, or at least that was what it looked like on the surface. The truth sat deeper, heavy and restless, like something waiting to be noticed.I had returned home earlier than usual that day, and for once the house had felt quiet in a way I couldn’t quite enjoy. Sarah and Sophie were upstairs in Sophie’s room, their voices drifting down now and then in soft bursts of laughter and conversation. I should have felt relieved knowing they were fine, knowing everything was normal, but I didn’t. I couldn’t.I sat alone by the kitchen island with a bottle of cold water and a glass cup in front of me. The cool surface beneath my arms did nothing to calm the heat building inside my chest. I poured myself a glass, the water steady as it filled it, and without thinking too much about it, I lifted it to my lips and drank everything in one go. The cold hit my throat sharp

KAREN.The full security report arrived in my inbox at exactly 8:17 on Friday morning, right when I was shoving files into my bag and mentally planning the experiments I still needed to supervise in the lab before noon. I had promised myself I would leave my office by nine sharp because the week had already been chaotic enough and I was tired of playing catch-up with everything.Instead, I opened the report.At first, I only intended to skim it quickly before heading downstairs, but the moment I saw the subject line from the cybersecurity firm, my stomach tightened hard enough to stop me cold.Final Trace Results.I remained standing behind my desk as I opened the attachment, one hand still gripping my coffee mug while my eyes moved quickly through the first page.Then more slowly.Then not at all.The mug nearly slipped from my fingers.I set it down carefully before I spilled it everywhere.My office suddenly felt too quiet. The faint hum from the air conditioner sounded louder than

LENAI recovered from the shock in less than two seconds, which honestly impressed even me. The warmth slipped right back onto my face so naturally that it almost felt automatic, like my body had learned years ago how to survive uncomfortable situations before my mind could fully catch up. One blink, one breath, and I was smiling again like nothing had happened.“I’m sorry?” I said softly, tilting my head with carefully measured confusion. “I don’t think I understand what you mean.”Karen didn’t answer.I kept my smile in place anyway.“I came here in good faith,” I continued. “I understand if you’re skeptical, Karen, I really do, but I genuinely didn’t come here to cause trouble.”Still nothing.That was the first moment the discomfort truly crept under my skin.I had prepared for anger before walking into this meeting room. I had expected accusations, bitterness, maybe even shouting. A woman with Karen’s history with Richard Palmer had every reason to react emotionally sitting acros