A few minutes passed in silence. She finished her meal and gently set her fork and knife down on the plate.
Then she looked up at him.
“I want you to tell me what really happened during my accident one year ago,” she said quietly, her posture straightening slightly as she held his gaze.
Elias’s expression shifted immediately.
Amara didn’t look away.
“Is there anything else I’m missing?” she asked, her fingers resting still against the edge of the table. “Anything else I should know?”
Her eyes sharpened slightly.
“What else are you hiding from me?”
Elias went silent for a moment.
His jaw tightened as he leaned back slightly in his chair, shoulders settling into a controlled stillness. His fingers curled around the glass in front of him, the faint clink of ice shifting inside it breaking the silence between them. He lifted it slowly, took a measured sip of water, then set it down carefully.
Only then did he look at her.
“You are perfectly healthy now. There’s nothing to worry about now.”
Her brows pulled together immediately.
She leaned forward slightly. “What about my accident?” Her voice sharpened with urgency. “Do you know how it happened? I can’t remember most of that night… not even what I did. I need to know if I made a mistake. If something went wrong.”
Elias exhaled through his nose, his gaze dropping for a brief second before returning to her face.
“I’ve looked into it,” he said. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You were fine the entire night. You didn’t drink anything except a glass of water.”
His eyes stayed on her.
“You are not at fault for the accident.”
Her shoulders eased slightly at that. The breath she had been holding slipped out in a slow release, tension draining from her frame in uneven waves. She looked down for a moment, blinking as if processing it, then gave a faint nod.
“All right…” she murmured. “That’s good to know.”
But when her gaze lifted again, something sharper returned to it.
“Do you know what actually happened? Was it the other driver’s fault?”
Elias hesitated.
“There’s no real evidence yet,” he admitted. “We don’t know exactly what happened that night.”
Amara nodded. Then she pushed back her chair abruptly. The legs scraped against the floor with a sharp, final sound as she stood.
“It’s fine,” she answered quietly. “I can find it on my own. I don’t need your help.”
Her voice stayed calm, but her fingers were trembling slightly at her sides.
“I’m leaving now,” she continued, forcing herself to meet his eyes. “And I need you to respect my choice. I don’t want to stay here with you anymore.”
He clearly didn’t look pleased with her decision. His jaw tightened, and a dark look passed through his eyes, but after a long moment, he forced himself to loosen his grip around her wrist.
The second he let go, she quickly pulled her hand back against her chest, rubbing the spot where his fingers had been. Withoutsaying another word, she turned around and walked away, her steps hurried and stiff.
