Silence crashed over the lake.
Even the wind seemed to still.
Caleb did not move.
Did not blink.
Did not breathe.
The world held its breath with him.
Iva’s chest heaved, her vision swimming, her hands trembling uncontrollably as the truth hung between them — fragile, irreversible, exposed.
The thread between their chests flared like a burning line of fate.
Caleb did not react immediately.
For a fraction of a second, he simply stood there, motionless, as though her words had struck a place in him that did not often receive impact.
Then he laughed.
Not loudly.
Not cruelly.
But with a sharp, incredulous amusement that cut through the tension like glass.
A low sound, smooth and controlled, yet carrying an unmistakable edge of disbelief.
“Well,” he said, voice laced with irony, “
