Madison stepped forward suddenly.
“You knew?” she asked.
Evelyn turned her gaze on her, cool and precise.
“My son’s private life is not your concern beyond the role you chose to play in it.”
Madison recoiled as if slapped, though Evelyn had not raised her voice.
I looked at Evelyn. “Why come here now?”
She glanced at the evidence bag containing the flash drive.
“Because there are things on that drive that should not be handled by strangers.”
Daniel’s voice sharpened. “What things?”
Evelyn did not answer him.
She looked only at me.
“For once in your life, Iris, listen before you act. Jason is not the only person with something to lose.”
There was something in her tone I had not expected.
Not a threat.
A warning.
Before I could ask what she meant, the examiner’s laptop chimed softly from the side table. He had connected a cloned preview device—not to open files fully, but to verify readability.
