Ava set her phone down with a slight, barely perceptible tremble in her hands, then pushed it aside with a sharp, controlled motion.
She couldn't let Shen see how rattled she was, not when his gaze lingered on her with such calculating precision.
For a moment, the air in the restaurant felt thicker, almost suffocating. Shen's words echoed in her mind, each one carefully placed, designed to unsettle her, to make her question herself.
He was a master of playing this game—the patient man, the confident man. And she, the woman caught in the middle of it all, trying to remain composed and unaffected.
Ava didn't want to admit it, but she hated the uncertainty in Zach's actions. They are indeed married, yes. But she had no idea what he is like and it makes her uncomfortable.
