The road stretched endlessly under the dim glow of the dashboard lights. Lydia sat in silence beside Jaden, her hands clasped tightly together, the weight of everything pressing on her chest. The car hummed quietly, yet every second felt loud — heavy — suffocating.
She turned to him.
"Jaden," she said, her voice trembling but steady. "Who was that woman at the pier?"
Jaden's jaw tightened. His fingers gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white.
"She's no one you need to worry about," he said finally.
"No one?" Lydia let out a small, bitter laugh. "You were talking to her in the shadows like you've known her for years, and I shouldn't worry?"
He didn't answer. He just kept driving, eyes locked on the road. The silence between them grew thicker — full of unsaid truths and buried emotions.
Finally, Lydia spoke again.
"You're hiding something from me, Jaden. And I'm done pretending I don't see it."
The car came to a sudden stop on the side of the road. Jaden turned to her slowly, his eyes dark, tired — but there was something else there too. Guilt.
"I'm trying to protect you, Lydia," he said quietly. "You don't know what you've gotten yourself into."
"Then tell me," she shot back, her voice breaking. "Tell me what I've gotten myself into, Jaden. Because right now it feels like I'm losing you before I ever really had you."
For a moment, he looked like he might tell her everything. But then his phone buzzed — one short vibration — and his expression hardened again.
"Not now," he muttered, restarting the car. "Please, Lydia… just trust me a little longer."
But Lydia wasn't sure she could.
As the car pulled back onto the dark highway, she looked out the window — and in the reflection, she saw her own eyes staring back at her. Filled with fear, love, and something she'd never felt before doubt.