"What are you talking about?" Adrian asked, his pulse quickening.
"With everything you just confessed to me," Maya said, her voice dropping into a razor-sharp calm, "you conveniently forgot to mention that you slapped him."
Adrian froze, the blood draining from his face. "How… how did you find out?"
"Because Matteo reached out to me," Maya said directly. "He explained everything. And he wasn't lying, Adrian. He laid out every single part, everything he did wrong, the manipulation, the secrets. He told me how deeply he regretted it. He said he already apologized to you, but you refused to forgive him, and it's been over a month now. He even explained what led to you slapping him. He wasn't shy or embarrassed about it. He was completely honest."
Maya continued. "He told me that for a man like him who sits on top of an empire, you are the first person to ever raise a hand against him, and he just stood there and took it. He said that was the fourth time you've hit him."
