Maya stood frozen, his words still echoing in the small dorm room. You lied to me.
She wanted to speak, to explain, but her throat locked up. Everything she'd feared for months was happening, and she couldn't stop it.
Ethan's eyes searched her face, not with the warmth she'd grown used to, but with something rawer. Betrayal. His fists clenched at his sides like he needed to hold back from saying more.
The silence stretched. Maya's binding felt too tight, her skin too hot. She'd imagined this moment a hundred times, but never thought it would hurt this much.
"Why?" His voice cracked. It wasn't anger at first, but hurt. Pure, unfiltered hurt. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Because telling you could get you killed. Because I was scared. Because I didn't know how.
Maya swallowed hard. "I couldn't. It wasn't safe."
