His tone softened.
“But you never forgave yourself for the time it took.”
Silence stretched.
“I research my characters,” he added. “You’d be surprised what people leave behind.”
Something steadied inside her.
Not calm.
Control.
“You don’t get to talk about that,” she said. “That case isn’t your material. My guilt isn’t yours.”
She stood. The blanket slid to the floor.
“I didn’t become lead agent because I like stories,” she said. “I became lead agent because I don’t believe them.”
Her voice didn’t shake.
“You don’t write me.”
The intercom clicked.
“Then don’t write,” he said. “Imagine.”
She didn’t answer.
“Imagine Scout never comes back for you.”
Her chest tightened.
“Not the heroic ending. The ordinary one. The storm passes. Life moves on.”
Silence.
“Now imagine he does come back,” he added softly. “But not foryou.”
Her fingers curled around the journal. The worst part wasn’t jealousy.
It was that she understood it.
“Imagine he chooses Sara.”
The words pressed in.
“That’s not betrayal,” he said. “That’s instinct.”
Tessa closed her eyes.
“This is how people survive. They pick the safest story and call it love.”
She set Sara’s journal aside and reached for the older notebook.
Lauren’s Journal
Day 118
