ARIANA

The silence in the car was suffocating, thick with unspoken words and tension. Grayson's hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white as he kept his eyes focused on the road ahead. Beside him, Ethan sat rigid, arms crossed, throwing death glares in his direction every few seconds. Mathew, sitting next to me in the back seat, wasn't any better—his body was tense, radiating protective energy like a barrier between me and Grayson.

But none of that mattered. My eyes were locked on Grayson. I watched him, searching for something—anything—that would explain what was happening right now. Why he had come. Why, after everything, he had shown...