Chapter 152. The Case Talk

Elona's POV

The drive back from the restaurant had been quiet. Not the kind of quiet that wrapped around you like a comforting blanket, but the brittle kind. The kind that hummed with unspoken arguments and stiff silences, like one wrong word would crack it all open. I hadn't said much. I simply went straight to the bedroom, changing into my tank top and pajama shorts, and then curling up on the bed with my phone, trying to scroll my mind into numbness. But my fingers had stilled on the screen more than once. Each time, the image of Grace’s smug little smirk or worse, her fake innocence flashed behind my eyes.

He made it worse. He always makes it worse with his bursts of anger.

Tristan’s voice came from the hallway, deep and tight as he spoke on the phone. I didn’t know who he was talking to, but I didn’t care. I was trying not to care. But carin