Chapter 17

• Alexander's skepticism hung in the air like a lingering chord of dissonance, as if the resonance of his scoff had painted a question mark on the canvas of their conversation. His inquiry, pointed and astute, disrupted the carefully woven veil of her half-truth. Ava shifted uneasily under the weight of his gaze, her own eyes a reflection of a fleeting internal conflict.
• "Yes, that's right... uhh there's something too she has to teach me," Ava replied, her words an attempt to steady the ship of her narrative, to navigate the tumultuous waters of a conversation that teetered on the edge of discovery. But the words felt brittle, their fragility accentuated by the discerning glint in Alexander's eyes. He wasn't merely listening; he was parsing her words, seeking the deeper currents beneath her veneer of a casual explanation.
• As Ava's words hung in the air, suspended between truth and a fabrication woven of half-truths, she felt the tide of discomfort rising within her. Alexander's intuition, a bond forged by years of shared moments and unspoken understandings, was a force that could not be easily evaded. And then, with a single exhalation of sound, he shattered the pretense that surrounded them.