Chapter 66
Dafa's POV: Night's Poison Drained Away
"No, wait."
Armand's voice cut through the air, no longer polished or taunting. It carried something far more disarming: genuine, almost frantic sincerity. He stepped forward not like the practiced socialite he was, but like a son still shaking from the sight of his father on the brink of death.
His focus was entirely on Alayna.
"Miss Alayna, please," he said, and there was a rawness in him that grated worse than his earlier arrogance. "You saved my father's life. You saw what none of us could. Let me do at least this, let me make sure you get home safely. It's the only peace I'll have tonight. And dinner is the barest gesture of thanks owed. A debt like this… can't just be left hanging."
He was good.
Too good.
He wasn't offering a ride; he was offering a link. A subtle, powerful thread of obligatio, one that would tie her into his family's gratitude, his influence, his orbit.
My jaw tightened, but I stayed silent.
