Chapter 43 Secrets Revealed

• "Did you hear what Mia's been saying?" Nia's voice crackled over the phone, the urgency in her tone cutting through the midday bustle of the city. I leaned against the window of my apartment, staring out at the sea of moving cars and the endless skyline, my mind half tuned to the conversation and half lost in the chaos of my thoughts.
• "What now?" I asked, though it came out in a more indifferent tone than the riot now raging in my chest. Where Mia's name cropped up, it was like treading on a minefield: one false move, one careless word, and all was liable to blow sky-high.
• "She's been bragging about her thing with Ethan," Nia said, her voice low, as if she was afraid of being overheard. "Like, not just hooking up. She's talking about him like they're… I don't know, more serious or something."