Chapter 87

Emily’s POV

The door clicked softly shut as Ava lowered herself into the chair across from me.

For a moment, I just stared at her, half convinced I had imagined her standing there.

She hadn’t stepped foot in this office for close to a week and she hadn’t spoken to me properly for even longer.

Now here she was and she looked as nervous as if she’d walked into a courtroom instead of my office.

“So… did Alex send you?” I asked, because I knew her brother, and I knew Ava.

Her startled expression told me I wasn’t wrong.

She laughed, but it was too thin to be genuine.

“Can’t a friend just check in?”

“Of course,” I said smoothly, though I let my eyes linger on her.

I wanted to see if she’d flinch, if she’d look away first. She did.

The silence stretched between us, the kind that carried months of unsaid words and then, suddenly, Ava’s shoulders sagged as though the weight of it all pressed too hard.

“Emily,” she