(Third Person POV – Group Focus)
The silence didn't simply fall.
It dropped —
heavy, metallic, suffocating —
like someone had flipped gravity in Jeff's living room.
Lara's perfect posture stiffened, chin high, eyes blazing with wounded pride. She looked like a queen refusing to bend, even as her kingdom crumbled around her feet.
Everyone else?
They stared.
Kate's brows were drawn tight — not angry, but calculating.
Jeff looked like someone had slapped him with a math textbook.
Vince's expression was a slow-building "what the actual hell."
Anthony's jaw was tight, guilt carved deep into the bone.
Jasmine looked physically ill.
Andy stared from the screen — frozen, lethal, unreadable.
And then —
Kate broke the quiet first.
Her voice was soft.
Too soft.
"Lara… do you really stand by that?"
Lara didn't flinch.
"Yes."
No hesitation.
No remorse.
No self-awareness.
She doubled down.
