"Tell me."
Daniel's voice wasn't loud.
That was what made it worse.
The studio felt suspended in air, like even the dust particles were waiting.
I couldn't breathe.
Adrian didn't move.
Daniel held my phone in one hand, his other clenched at his side.
"What happened between you two?" he asked again.
This time, it wasn't a demand.
It was a plea.
And something inside me broke.
"Before I knew he was my professor," I said softly.
Daniel went still.
"What?"
"It was before," I repeated, my voice shaking now. "Before school started. I didn't know."
Silence.
Heavy.
Thick.
The air felt like it might collapse in on itself.
Daniel's eyes moved slowly to Adrian.
"You?" he asked.
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"It was mutual," he said evenly.
Daniel laughed, but it wasn't humor.
It was disbelief.
"You slept with her?"
Adrian didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Daniel looked back at me.
"You said you were hurt," he whispered.
"I was."
"And you did this?"
"Yes."
