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"Are you investigating him because of me?" Chloe asked, her voice like a frozen lake.

"Yes," Marius replied.

"Do you really think you have the right?"

Marius’s throat tightened. The words he wanted to say—about protection, about regret, about love—remained stuck. He felt the sting of her rejection more sharply than any physical wound.

Chloe remained clinical, her tone devoid of warmth