be,” he said, low and controlled. “This can still be handled quietly.”
I looked at him.
“Really?” I asked. “You mean before your command finds out?”
His silence was enough.
Richard stepped closer.
“You’re going to fix this,” he said. “That’s not a request.”
“And if I don’t?”
Evelyn stood slowly.
No soft tone.
No smile.
“Then you are no longer our daughter.”
Their final leverage.
The threat they thought still worked.
I looked at each of them and memorized the certainty on their faces.
Then Richard noticed my phone.
