The room stayed quiet.
For a few seconds neither of them spoke, the silence stretching between them like a bridge neither was quite ready to cross, heavy with the weight of everything Luna had carried alone for months. The only sound came from the faint hum of the air conditioner pushing cool air through the vents and the distant ticking of a clock somewhere in the house, each tick marking time that seemed to move both too slowly and too fast, as if the universe itself was holding its breath waiting for what came next. Dayo sat beside Luna, his shoulders tense with the readiness of a man who had spent years protecting what mattered most to him, still worried, still waiting, his entire body angled toward her as if prepared to absorb whatever blow she was about to deliver, his eyes searching her face for clues she had not yet given.
