I wanted to talk, to say something, to do something, but all I could do was stand there, hands clammy at my sides, mind scrambling like a broken computer.
The words I had planned, every clever little line, every careful step had disappeared the moment Lily left the room. And now... now I was alone with him.
His eyes never left mine. Not even for a fraction of a second.
That weight, that quiet, impossible intensity, pressed down on me.
My chest ached as if every heartbeat was a reminder that I was trapped, and maybe... maybe he already knew more than I wanted him to.
I forced myself to take a shaky breath. One. Two. Three.
The moment my eyes laid on the man standing in front of me, my expression turned ice cold.
All the expression drained from my face, as the idea started to cook in my mind.
I was about to play a game.
A game which could prove me right and give me the confirmation I needed or Nicole will win and I will become the creepy weird sister-in-law who somehow was framing him.
"Nicole," I started, my voice sounding strange even to my own ears. Not too high, or too soft, just enough to make him shook to his core.
I swallowed again internally while I spoke up with the corner of my lips curving into a smug, "I know something which could destroy you and your plan."
His eyebrows lifted just the slightest, like a question formed without words. "You know?" His voice came out almost mocking.
He all acted as if he was unbothered, but I could feel the undercurrent.
The measuring. The quiet assessment that he was doing on me want to vanish into the thin air but I still keep playing this game.
"Yes," I said, stepping a little closer, though my legs felt like wet noodles.
"Something big enough to destroy your gentleman persona." My fingers itched to reach into my hair and twist, but I held still. Had to hold still. Breathe slowly, even if my lungs disagreed.
He tilted his head slowly, just a little, and his eyes narrowed, calculating. "I do not know what you are talking about," he said smoothly, like denial could erase everything I had just said.
Of course. Classic move. I had expected it, but that did not make it any easier to stand there, my stomach knotting into sharp, twisting loops.
I needed him to react. I needed him to slip.
I took a deep breath and decided to push more. Though it was a risky move but I had came at such point from where I could not turn back.
"You can lie all you want but I have such evidence even you cannot deny." My voice sounded firmer than I felt, like a mask glued over my panicking insides.
"Evidence?" His tone went flat as if he was desperate to keep the façade glued to his face.
I raised my eyebrows as I titled my head assessing his expression to know how much to hide and how much to reveal.
His eyes narrowed further, and I could feel him lean forward slightly, the weight of him pressing down on me.
I could not move. Could not back down now. Not when I was at the verge of getting an reaction out of him.
"You are playing a dangerous game, Elena," he said slowly. Each word was deliberate, like a knife tip gliding along skin. "You have no idea what you are inviting."
I swallowed, trying to calm the sudden rush of fear that shot through my chest.
My legs felt like jelly again, but I held my expression steady.
I kept my face cold, unreadable, even as my mind was screaming at me to run, to hide, to crawl into some dark corner and pretend this never happened.
"I do," I said evenly. "I know exactly what I am doing. And I am not afraid."
He chuckled softly, low and almost amused.
But there was something under it, a tension, a pause, a careful weighing of his next move. "Do you think you can threaten me with something I cannot even remember doing?"
His voice was light, teasing even, but there was a dangerous undertone that made my stomach drop.
I did not flinch. Not really.
I let my eyes lock on his, daring him to try to see through me. "I think you know exactly what I am talking about," I whispered, letting the words stretch out, letting the silence between us do some of the work.
For a long moment, neither of us moved.
Just the quiet hum of the room, the soft tick of the clock somewhere in the corner, and the low thrum of my own heart that sounded far too loud in my ears.
Then he tilted his head, slow, deliberate, like he was considering something. "And what if I do not?"
His words were almost casual, but I could see the tiniest flicker in his eyes, the smallest crease in his expression, a crack in the calm façade he had been wearing.
I took a step closer, steady despite the tremble inside. "Then I will reveal it anyway," I said softly, letting my lips curve into a hint of a smirk.
"Because someone like you does not get to hide forever. Not with this."
The tiniest pause. And I saw it, the shift in his expression, the almost imperceptible tightening around his jaw, a shadow passing over his face like clouds sliding over the sun.
"You are bold," he said finally. "Or a foolish woman who did not know what she was doing. I cannot even point out?"
"Whatever you say," I said firmly, my heart hammering like it wanted to escape my chest. "I know the truth. And it will be worth all the trouble."
He leaned back, slow, deliberate, folding his arms across his chest. The room suddenly felt smaller, heavier, as if the air had thickened around us.
I could feel the tension wrapping itself around me like invisible chains.
"You think you can corner me with this... this knowledge?" he asked, his tone calm but carefully measured. "That I will flinch or react?"
I met his gaze without blinking. "I do not expect you to flinch. I only expect you to acknowledge it. Even if it is only in your mind, even if you never admit it aloud. You know it. And I will for sure get it out of your own mouth. And that’s a promise."