Julia closed the laptop gently, but her chest felt like it had been cracked open. A woman’s name. A repeating time. A place he never mentioned. Everything inside her screamed to say something—but she didn’t. She’d opened this quietly. And if she wanted answers, she needed to stay quiet still.
Connor returned to the room in his usual rhythm—unbothered, distracted. She looked up and smiled with effort. “Thanks for letting me use it,” she said, keeping her tone easy. He nodded, already pulling on a T-shirt. Julia sat there for a moment longer, hands still, her mind racing.