Heather scoffed. She didn't even argue anymore. There was no point. She *knew* he wasn't being serious. Not the way he claimed to.
And as much as she wished she didn't care either, a small, bitter part of her hated that he kept saying he did.
"Of course," she said coolly, her voice flat.
Caius didn't flinch. His face didn't change much—just the slightest shift of his jaw, like he was trying to hold back something.
Heather took that as her cue. "You just proved my point. I'm leaving."
"Heather, you can't leave," he said, following as she moved toward the door. "You'll go to jail. And I don't want that. We could just—get married. No one has to lose anything. No one gets left behind."
She turned to him slowly, arms crossed. "It sounds a lot like you're not listening to what I'm saying."
"I hear you perfectly." His voice remained even. "I'm just telling you that leaving? It's not an option."
Heather let out a sharp, humorless laugh. "You think you can decide that for me?"
