Chapter 47

• “I don’t know if I can keep doing this,” Funmi said, her voice barely above a whisper, the words carrying more weight than she intended. We sat across from each other at the café, the soft murmur of other conversations filling the background, but nothing in the world felt quiet to me. My heart was pounding in my chest, each beat loud enough to drown out the noise around us.
• “What do you mean?” I asked, my voice soft, betraying the knot forming in my stomach. I didn’t need to hear this. Not now.
• “I mean…” She hesitated, looking down at her hands. “I can’t keep pretending everything is okay, Cole. You’ve been keeping so much from me. I know you’re struggling with your family and all of this... mess. But I feel like you’ve been pulling away, and I don’t know how much longer I can pretend it doesn’t hurt.”