Nobody spoke for several seconds after the call ended.
The silence felt heavier than anything Chanel had actually said.
Because she hadn't sounded afraid.
She hadn't sounded cornered.
She hadn't sounded like someone caught in a lie.
She had sounded prepared.
And that was what bothered Dante the most.
The phone remained in his hand.
The screen dark.
The call disconnected.
Yet the room still felt frozen.
Victor was somehow the first person to recover.
Again.
"I don't like her."
Elena glanced at him.
"You liked her yesterday."
"I have evolved."
"Into what?"
"A victim."
Nobody acknowledged him.
Adrian looked back down at the documents.
His expression growing increasingly troubled.
"I don't understand."
Camille looked toward him.
"What?"
Adrian tapped the screen.
"If she wanted us to find these records"
A pause.
"Why hide them in the first place?"
Nobody answered.
Because it was a good question.
A very good question.
