Abram~

The silence hung in the thick air, suffocating me. I loosened the tie around my neck and opened two buttons with a single hand.

None of us spoke as I drove the car in eerie silence. My grip tightened around the steering wheel as her words from earlier echoed in my ears like venom.

"You are free to hurt me, but do it without this facade, without this pretense."

The weight of her words settled in my chest like lead. I wanted to argue, to tell her she was wrong, but I knew better.

The city lights blurred past the windshield, neon reflections casting fractured colors across her face....