His gaze never softened. “The police will revisit this soon. Sign the settlement—it benefits your mother and Julian.”

Something broke in her then—something vulnerable and raw enough to spill without disguise. The mask she wore fractured long enough to reveal the humiliation she hadn’t yet fully vocalized. Blood tainted her tongue where her teeth dug in deeply, mocking the sobs she refused to give in to. Even after swallowing the copper taste of pain, the ...