Chapter 11

Ryan stared at her as though he hadn’t heard properly.

“They are… still there?” he repeated slowly, disbelief thick in his voice.

Amelia nodded once, sharply, ending the call. Her hand dropped to her side with the phone clenched so tight her knuckles whitened.

“They said no one came,” she said, her voice trembling despite her effort to steady it. “And it’s already an hour after dismissal, Ryan. An hour.”

“What about—” Ryan stopped himself, swallowing. “What about Charles? I mean he was supposed to.”

Her lips pressed into a thin line. She didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she bent, grabbed her bag from beside the desk, then her phone again, checking the screen as if hoping a missed call would magically appear.

“Apparently,” she said finally, bitter and breathless, “he is too busy.”

Ryan’s eyes widened.

“He didn’t go?”

“No,” she snapped, panic seeping through the cracks now. “He didn’t.”

She looked around the office as if s