CHAPTER 36: Confiding In Each other

　　Caleb's POV

　　I sat in the backseat of the car, watching the city lights blur past the tinted windows. My attention shifted between Victoria sitting beside me and the quiet hum of the road beneath us.

　　I was probably prying, but I couldn't help it. I asked "Don't mind me asking, dear, but what is your relationship with Ethan Sterling and Lily Thornton?"

　　Victoria became tense, her discomfort subtle but unmistakable.

　　Dominic, ever the stoic, was focused on the road, his shoulders rigid. I knew my son too well to miss the tension in his frame. Whatever Victoria's silence meant, it had affected him too. My curiosity peaked, I couldn't shrug of the feeling that Victoria and Dominic had met before the interview.

　　My question hung in the air like a charged wire. Victoria let out a shuddering breath, her hands tightening in her lap, her gaze fixed firmly on the lights outside.

　　"I—" she started, then faltered.