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One after another, the tears became a steady stream, growing more intense, until the first sobs escaped, shaking her shoulders uncontrollably.

She opened her mouth to try to speak, but it was as if the words had become trapped somewhere between her throat and her chest, crushed by the weight of guilt and fear. Sobs choked her voice, breaking it into inaudible fragments as she desperately searched for a way to explain, to justify everything she had done.

But nothing came out but small, broken sounds, her breathing ragged as her pleading eyes searched for some reaction from Drake, something that could soothe the storm of emotions raging inside her.

Blair felt her face wet and the tears continued, relentless, making every attempt to speak a failure. She knew she needed to say something, or at least ease the hurt she saw in his eyes. But regret, sadness, and despair were all mixed together in such a mess that words seemed impossible to form.

"Yes," she whispered, the word barely audible,