Sonia took a step forward, her composure slipping further now, her eyes burning into Caleb.
“You cannot just refuse,” she said sharply. “This is not only about you.”
Finally—
Caleb looked at her.
And the coldness in his gaze made her falter for just a second.
“Exactly,” he replied quietly.
A pause.
Heavy.
Charged.
“This is not just about me.”
And something in the way he said it—
Made the entire room uneasy.
--
The silence that followed his refusal was suffocating.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
Every pair of eyes in the chamber was locked on Caleb, tension crackling in the air like a storm about to break, the Council visibly unsettled, his father radiating restrained authority, and Sonia—
Sonia looked like she was balancing on the edge between fury and panic.
Good.
Caleb remained sti
