All eyes swung back to Ashley, but she couldn’t shake the knot in her chest, that nagging discomfort that had been simmering since the start. She let out a long sigh, forcing her brain to line up the pieces, then glanced at Mr. Adam like he might hold the missing answer.

“So… do you really think we need to cut it down that much?” she asked, her voice edged with reluctant surrender.

Ashley finally gave in. Maybe there was no point in dragging this out—nothing about the situation ...