Laurent's eyes caught the movement out of the corner of his eye, and he spoke gently,
"Go ahead… have one. It's alright."
He knew Dave was hurting right now and needed some way to vent.
"No…" Dave closed his eyes and leaned back against the seat, refusing to light a cigarette. Instead, guilt weighed heavily on him as he muttered,
"This is all my fault… I was so caught up in myself, I didn't notice Lilian and him together sooner. If I had seen it earlier… stopped it sooner… she wouldn't have fallen so deeply—"
Laurent reached over with a comforting tone,
"Don't blame yourself. None of us expected them to be together."
They were from completely different worlds. No one had imagined they'd actually get involved, which was why no one had paid attention to their subtle interactions. Lilian and Morrison had hidden everything perfectly.
Dave fell silent, words failing him. Later, he called Bert to check on Lilian.
Bert's voice on the other end was icy,
"Hear it for yourself."
