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Cassy should've expected it, someone like Veronica doesn't walk away quietly because she waits, she watches and then she acts.
The next morning felt almost normal, almost.
"Miss Williams, your coffee."
"Thank you."
"Meeting at ten."
"Prepared."
Routine, structure and control but Cassy knew better now because calm never lasted long around Caleb Garcia.
"Sir, you have a visitor—"
"I'm not available."
Adrian hesitated. "…She said it's not optional."
That was enough, Cassy looked up and she already knew.
"Veronica," Caleb said flatly right on time the doors opened and there she was, again but this time she wasn't calm, she wasn't observing and she was intentional.
"Good morning," Veronica said smoothly but her eyes didn't match her tone.
"You don't get to walk in here anymore," Caleb replied cold and controlled.
Veronica smiled faintly. "I think I do." A pause. "Especially now."
Cassy felt it, that shift again and that tension that meant something was about to happen.
"What do you want?" Caleb asked direct and sharp.
Veronica stepped forward. "Clarity."
Silence.
"And you're not getting it," he replied.
Veronica didn't flinch, instead she reached into her bag and placed something on his desk.
A file.
Cassy frowned slightly because something about it felt… wrong.
"What is that?" Caleb asked.
Veronica's gaze didn't leave his. "Something you forgot to finish."
Silence.
Caleb opened the file and for the first time his expression changed not slightly not subtly but completely.
Cassy noticed immediately because Caleb didn't react like that ever. "What is it?" she asked softly.
Caleb didn't answer, didn't even look up because whatever was in that file, it mattered. "Veronica," he said quietly but this time, there was something else in his voice, not control not distance. but something closer to tension.
"You shouldn't have brought this here."
Veronica tilted her head. "Why?" she asked softly. "Because she's here?"
Silence.
Cassy's chest tightened. "What is it?" she asked again more firmly this time.
Caleb finally looked up but not at her, at Veronica. "Leave," he said.
Veronica smiled slow but satisfied. "Not until she knows," she said.
That line landed hard, Cassy stepped forward because now she was done waiting. "…Knows what?"
Silence.
Caleb's jaw tightened. "Veronica," he warned.
But Veronica didn't stop. "She deserves to know who she's standing next to," Veronica said calmly.
Cassy's heart started to beat faster. "What does that mean?" she asked.
Veronica looked at her directly, no hesitation and no softness. "It means," she said quietly, "That everything you think you know about him..." A pause. "...is incomplete."
Silence. Heavy and unavoidable.
Cassy looked at Caleb waiting, hoping he would deny it, explain it and say something but he didn't.
And that was worse than any answer.
"What is she talking about?" Cassy whispered.
Caleb didn't respond immediately because for the first time there was something he hadn't told her, something he couldn't control anymore.
And Veronica had just placed it right in front of both of them. "I think," Elena said softly, "It's time you tell her the truth."
Silence.
And just like that, the balance between them started to crack because now it wasn't just about feelings, it was about secrets.