"Now tell me…" Raya pressed again, her voice quieter but firmer, like she already sensed the answer. "Who is this person?"
Anna closed her eyes and drew in a shaky breath, her fingers tightening around the phone as though it might slip from her grasp. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely more than a whisper.
"It's… Lucas. Lucas Reyes."
The silence on the other end of the call was immediate.
Too immediate.
"Raya?" Anna's heart skipped, dread pooling in her chest. "I... I didn't mean to…" Her words rushed out in panic. "I was drunk, and it just happened. I'm sorry."
For a moment, she could only hear her own breathing.
Then Raya spoke. "It's okay."
But something was different.
The warmth was still there, but it had thinned, sharpened, as if Raya had straightened her spine on the other end of the line.
"Raya," Anna hurried on, fear creeping into her voice, "I swear it was just that night. Nothing else. I didn't plan it. I didn't..."
