Tracy's POV
Later, when the meeting broke up, Ethan remained seated for a moment, glancing at his files, then at me. He had always been a man whose silence said as much as his speech. Today, he chose to speak.
"Stay a while." he said. He swallowed, then added, "There is something I wanted to ask you — something not about the report."
My stomach dipped. "Yes?"
He looked at me directly then — no masks, no distance. "Last night, when you walked out —" He paused, as if finding the proper footing for a small, honest sentence. "You carried yourself as if you were used to leaving rooms on your own terms."
It was not a compliment. It was not a pitying remark. It was an observation that struck me for its careful gentleness.
"I… I have had to." I admitted before I could stop myself. "There are reasons."
He waited. The silence between us hummed with a cautious curiosity.
"Why did you watch over me last night?" I asked, surprising myself by speaking the question aloud.
