"Clearly, I did not expect this," Adeline muttered, pacing the length of the room for what had to be the tenth time. She bit at her nails, stopped, clenched her fists, then sighed so hard it bordered on a growl. "I planned for resistance. Pushback. Political nonsense. Not… this."
"None of us did," Aaron said, arms crossed, leaning against the wall. He looked calmer than she, but the tight line of his mouth gave him away.
"Well, I did—" Maia began, then immediately coughed and waved her hand. "Correction. I suspected something would go wrong. Just… Not today. And not on this scale. Poor timing on my part."
Layla exhaled slowly. "Arguing about whose fault it is won't help. Let's focus on what we can do next."
