Chapter 180

ELORA’S POV After several minutes of convincing Aiden that I had to stop by Hale’s before anything else, we were finally on our way to the company. The city blurred past my window, familiar streets I’d walked several times now feeling strangely distant. My mind was already in Manhattan—boardrooms, signatures, files, and responsibilities I hadn’t planned on carrying again. But what pulled me out of my thoughts wasn’t the traffic or the weight in my chest. It was the silence. For someone who always had one or two things to say, Aiden was painfully quiet. I glanced at him. His hands were tight around the steering wheel, jaw clenched, eyes fixed straight ahead. He doesn't look tense in his usual protective way. This was different. He looked…unsettled. “Aiden,” I called softly. “Are you okay?” “Yeah,” he replied immediately. “I’m fine.” He’s not. And I know it. I turned fully toward him, ignoring the way the seatbelt dug into my shoulder. “You know you can talk to me, right?” He exhaled slo