Chapter 60 The Tenuous Truce

• The café was calm and almost too quiet, like it was holding its breath. It felt like a safe place neutral ground for a conversation that had been waiting far too long. Zara sat across from Leo, her hands wrapped around a cup of tea she hadn’t touched.
• The warmth of the cup didn’t reach her fingers. She kept her eyes on him, searching for something familiar in his face. He looked different now. Thinner. Tired in a way that had nothing to do with sleep. The careful control he used to carry was gone, replaced by something quieter, heavier like he’d been carrying a weight for too long. Over the past few months, he hadn’t said much since they spoke at the garden. Just small things flowers left at her door, coffee sent to her office. Quiet gestures that said more than words. It had felt like a truce, a kind of peace offering. But now, sitting here face to face, they both knew those gestures weren’t enough. It was time to stop pretending. Time to face what was left between them and decide whether they could fix it or walk away for good.
• "I still need to understand," Zara began, her voice low and steady, "why you chose to hide it all. To lie to me. It wasn't just your name, was it?"