Daniel noticed. “What’s wrong?”
I showed him the message. His face hardened. “s**t. Blackmail?”
Before I could answer, another text came in. This one had a blurry thumbnail image attached, dark shapes that could only be us in the train. The hook tightened in my gut. Who was this? How much did they see? And what would they want?
My hands shook as I slipped the phone back into my bag. The party still hummed around us, but it all felt distant now. Daniel stepped closer, his brow furrowed. “Esther, talk to me. We can figure this out.”
I forced a small smile, even though my stomach twisted. “It’s probably nothing. Some drunk guests were messing around. I’ll handle it later. Right now, I just… I’m not feeling great. The long day, the travel, everything caught up. Mind if we talk tomorrow?”
