Chapter 3 - The Woman Reed Thought He Understood
The recruits returned to their seats.
But nobody ate.
Nobody talked.
They were waiting.
Waiting for someone to explain.
I understood that feeling.
Because I had spent years waiting too.
Waiting for people to stop assuming.
Waiting for someone to ask instead of judge.
Reed stepped closer.
The officer immediately shifted his attention.
A warning.
Reed stopped.
That alone would have shocked everyone.
Chief Reed stopped because someone looked at him.
I looked at the sealed folder.
“You brought it here.”
The officer nodded.
“Because you needed to see it.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“No.”
A pause.
“You never do.”
That sentence stayed with me.
Because it was true.
I had always carried things alone.
Reed laughed quietly.
“You’re making this bigger than it is.”
Nobody responded.
He looked around.
Trying to find support.
The recruits looked away.
The same people who laughed minutes earlier were now silent.
Reed hated that.
He needed the room on his side.
He needed control.
“You think one folder changes everything?”
The officer looked at him.
“Yes.”
One word.
No emotion.
Reed’s confidence cracked.
Only slightly.
But enough.
I noticed his left knee.
The way he shifted his weight.
The way he protected it.
The weakness I saw earlier wasn’t accidental.
It was information.
Reed noticed my eyes.
“What?”
I looked away.
Nothing.
But he knew.
I had seen something.
May you like
And that scared him.
📖 Chapter 4 reveals what Elena notices about Reed and why his confidence starts collapsing. 👇
