Chapter 70

MAXWELL'S POV

I hated the tension between us. It had been there long before the mess with Clarissa, but somehow this time it felt different. Hannah’s silence was colder than usual, more distant, and I knew I had to do something before the gap between us widened even further.

Clarissa had been a mistake—well, not her, but the situation. I hadn’t expected Hannah to walk in and see us talking like that. But that look on her face… I’d never forget it. Hurt, confusion, and a wall slamming between us faster than I could explain.

I should have said something sooner. I should have explained it right there and then. But things with Hannah were always complicated. She had this way of shutting me out before I even had the chance to make things right. So, I stayed silent, as I always did.

But this time, silence wasn’t going to work.

I needed to show her I understood her, more than she realized. That I wasn’t just going through the motions, that I saw her and her dreams—even if I rarely said it o