"You left fingerprints on her wrist."
"I didn’t touch her."
The calmness in his voice made my hands curl inside the gloves.
"She tried this with me before," he continued. "Accusations. Manipulation. Making herself look helpless so everyone rushes to protect her." He shook his head. "Honestly, I hoped she’d grown out of it by now."
Every word sounded rehearsed. Polished. Like he’d delivered this exact speech before. Maybe he had.
"I dated her for more than a year," Tobias said. "Trust me when I tell you—she knows exactly how to play people. She’s very good at making men feel sorry for her." He added, "You seem smart enough not to fall for it."
I stared at him for a long moment. He mistook my silence for uncertainty. That was his second mistake.
The first was touching her. The second was assuming I didn’t know what deception looked like.
I’d built an entire career around identifying patterns. Human behavior wasn’t code, but it followed systems all the same. And Tobias Hart was overperforming. Truth had gaps in it. Hesitations. Contradictions. Liars polished their stories until they gleamed.
"Are you finished?" I asked quietly.
His smile faded a little. "I’m trying to help you."
"No." I stepped closer. "You’re trying to control the narrative before she tells me the truth."
Something cold flashed behind his eyes. Gone in a second. But I saw it.
"I never touched her," he said flatly.
"You’re lying."
His posture changed immediately. Not completely. Just enough for the uglier version underneath to show through.
"I’d be careful throwing accusations around," he said.
"And I’d be careful putting your hands on women," I shot back.
He scoffed, "You don’t know anything about our relationship."
"I know you are a horrible person and did horrible things."
That hit something. His expression hardened.
"She always did know how to put on a show."
Anna—pale, terrified—flashed through my mind so vividly my heart felt unsteady. I took another step toward him.
Tobias straightened away from the car completely now.
"What exactly are you trying to do here?" he asked.
"I’m removing you from the project."
For the first time since this conversation started, genuine surprise crossed his face. Then he laughed.
"You can’t be serious."
"I am."
"The contracts are already finalized. You pull out now, your company loses tens of millions."
