Silence
1059 Words
REYNA'S POV
Jessica didn't respond, she only stared at me for a long moment, her eyes dark and unreadable. Her jaw tightened like she was fighting with herself.
Then she pushed her chair back.
The legs scraped the floor, sharp and loud.
“Leave it, Reyna,” she said, grabbing her bag. “Just leave it. Go home. Pretend you never asked anything.”
I stared at her, stunned. “Jessica...”
She pointed at me, her finger stiff, shaking a little even though she tried to hide it. “I’m serious. Forget this. Forget me. Forget all of it.” She gave a small forced laugh. “You’re better off being clueless.”
Her voice didn’t match her eyes. Her eyes looked scared. Jessica wasn’t scared of me. She wasn’t scared of Jeremy. So who was she scared of?
She avoided my gaze and stood up fast. “Don’t call me again.”
Then she walked out.
Heels clicking.
Head high.
Mask back on.
But her steps were a little too quick.
I sat still for a few seconds after she left, my heart beating too hard, too fast. My palms were cold, and I had to press them on my thighs just to stop the shaking.
She knew something.
And she was terrified of something.
I stood slowly, pushed my chair in, and walked out of the café. The morning light felt too bright. Cars passed by, people walked, the air smelled like bread from a nearby bakery, but everything inside me felt tight and dark.
I took a slow breath and waved the driver over.
He pulled up quietly. “Mrs. Hall?”
“Home,” I whispered.
The ride felt longer than before. I kept replaying everything Jessica said... or didn’t say... in my head. Every small slip. Every look she tried to hide.
“Some things are bigger than you.”
“Bigger than me.”
“Promises you didn’t know about.”
Who made those promises with Jeremy?
And why was Jessica warning me like she was next?
We drove into the Hall estate, and I thanked the driver quietly. I stepped out, holding my bag tighter, my steps slow as I walked to the front door.
I expected silence.
I expected the empty house from earlier.
But the door was already open. And Nicholas… was inside. Standing in the hallway. Waiting. Waiting for me.
My breath caught.
He was still in his suit, tie slightly loose, hair a little messed up like he had run a hand through it many times. His face was calm, but his eyes… his eyes told a different story.
He shouldn’t be home. It was still morning. He had left before I even woke up fully.
“Nicholas?” I whispered.
He didn’t move for a second. Then he walked toward me slowly, each step quiet but full of something heavy.
He stopped in front of me.
“Where were you?” he asked softly.
Not loud. Not angry. But there was a weight in his voice that made my stomach twist.
I clenched the strap of my bag. “I… I needed to clear my head.”
He stared at me, long and deep, like he was trying to peel back every layer and read what I wasn’t saying.
“Reyna,” he said, voice still quiet but firmer now, “don’t lie to me.”
My throat tightened. “I’m not...”
“You went to meet someone,” he said. “I know.”
My heart skipped. “How?”
He didn’t break eye contact.
“The driver called me. Protocol. He said you asked to be dropped off somewhere alone.”
I swallowed hard.
He took a step closer, his voice dropping even lower. “Did you meet Jessica?”
He already knew.
I lowered my eyes. I couldn’t lie anymore. “Yes.”
Nicholas let out a slow breath and ran a hand down his jaw, like he was trying to stay calm. He stepped back a little, pressing one hand against the wall beside him.
“Reyna… why would you do that?” he asked quietly, sounding hurt and scared at the same time. “Why would you go to her alone?”
“I needed answers,” I whispered, my voice shaking. “She knows something. She kept slipping. Saying things she shouldn’t know. Jeremy had secrets, Nicholas. He had...”
“I know.”
The words came out sharp, fast.
I looked up at him.
His eyes were dark. Worried. Haunted.
“You know?” I whispered.
Nicholas didn’t speak for a moment. He looked like he was choosing his words carefully, like he was standing on a thin line and one wrong move would break everything.
Then he said quietly, “Reyna, if you start digging into Jeremy’s past… you need to be careful. His world wasn’t clean. He had people around him you don’t want to cross.”
I felt the air shift around us. The same warning Jessica gave me. The same fear in her eyes.
“Nicholas…” I breathed, my voice barely holding, “who are these people?”
He didn’t answer.
He only looked at me with eyes that held too many things... fear, anger, guilt, protectiveness.
Then he whispered, almost pained, “Not now.”
My chest tightened. “Nicholas, please. Tell me the truth.”
He looked away, his jaw clenching. “Reyna, there are things you’re not ready to hear.”
I took a step toward him. “But I need to know. I need to understand what I’m fighting.”
Nicholas turned back to me, his expression softening, but his voice still low and tense. “No. What you need is to stay safe. And Jessica… she’s not safe for you.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but he raised a hand gently.
“Not because of who she is,” he said softly. “But because of who she knows.”
My stomach dropped. Jessica’s fear wasn’t about me. It was about someone above her.
Someone bigger. Someone dangerous.
I felt the house walls closing in a little. “Nicholas… who does she know?”
He didn’t look at me. His silence answered for him. And the silence was worse than any words he could have said.
- Writer
