Chapter 75
~ Hailey ~
All the while, Navine didn’t take his eyes off me. Not even for a second. And the longer it went on, the more unsettling it became. It wasn’t just attention — it was accusation. As though I had done something wrong simply by existing in that room. Like I had betrayed him somehow. Like I’d committed some unforgivable sin by being in the same space as Nathaniel. By letting this whole mess unfold around me.
His gaze was intense. Burning. Heavy with something I couldn’t decipher. It made my skin prickle with awareness, heat crawling up my arms and down my spine even as I tried to focus on responding to Jackson. I could feel it constantly, like a spotlight pinned to my chest, making it hard to breathe normally.
He finally looked away when I spoke, as though my voice br
