After hours of pacing around, Noah and Naya had finally hit a wall.
Every solution they proposed to handle the scandal felt like throwing a pebble at a tidal wave. They eventually reached a point where their brains felt too fried to continue, and a heavy, uneasy silence settled over the apartment.
Naya leaned back against the sofa cushions, her mind still churning, trying to figure out if she could leverage her family's connections to help Noah without putting him in even more danger.
The silence was shattered by the sharp, insistent ringing of Naya's phone.
She snatched it off the coffee table and answered quickly. Noah sat perfectly still beside her, his eyes locked on her face.
He watched as her expression shifted rapidly from exhaustion to a dark, clouded worry. Her brow furrowed deeply, and her posture stiffened as she listened to the voice on the other end.
"What happened?" Naya asked, her voice dropping into a serious, guarded tone. "Is it serious?"
