Chapter 27: Dead Rats
The soft hum of the car engine was the only sound filling the silence between William and Anna.
The moment they stepped out of the restaurant, the warmth William had shown her vanished entirely, as if it had been nothing more than a fleeting performance.
In its place, an unsettling coldness settled over him, his once affectionate presence now distant and unreadable. His sharp features were expressionless, his gaze fixed on the road ahead, giving no indication of the man who had just held her so tenderly minutes ago.
A shiver ran down Anna’s spine. Unnerved by the sudden shift, she instinctively pressed herself against the car door, creating as much distance as possible between them. Though her tears had stopped, the tension in her posture betrayed the storm still raging inside her.
William watched her in silence from his side of the car, letting the quiet stretch between them, giving her space to collect herself. But as the seconds dragged on, his patience began to wear thin. Exhaling sharply, he finally broke the silence.
"What happened back there? Why did you panic?"
Anna hesitated. There was no simple answer. No words that could neatly explain the suffocating dread that had gripped her chest.
She didn’t want to lie, but the truth felt equally impossible to put into words. Logically, there had been no real reason for her to panic—no imminent danger, no direct threat—yet her heart had refused to listen to reason.
Her fingers curled against the fabric of her dress, her voice barely above a whisper. "I’m sorry... I just wasn’t ready. First Susanne, then Robert... I’m not ready to face my enemies yet."
William’s brow furrowed, a flicker of something dark flashing in his eyes. For some reason, her words irritated him. Maybe it was the way she spoke about her past, the weight of it still pressing down on her. Or maybe, it was something else entirely—something he refused to acknowledge.
His voice was low when he responded, "Is that really the case? Or do you still love your ex-husband?"