During lunch, they still sat together at their usual quiet table, yet Eli's responses to her were reduced to a string of curt, dismissive syllables. It was either a low "hn" or a flat "no." Not once did he offer a full sentence, and it was blindingly obvious that something was eating away at him.
Ever since they had initiated their arrangement to pretend to be in a relationship, they had never once engaged in a heated argument. The only period of silence between them had occurred when Belle was drowning in her own severe personal crises—crises that naturally rippled out and affected him.
But now, the tables were turned. Belle was left completely in the dark, entirely perplexed as to why he was suddenly treating her with such freezing animosity.
[What if he overheard that little boy earlier?] Ceres questioned, her voice echoing deeply within Belle's subconscious. [He probably caught the exact part where the kid mentioned you dated Prince in the past.]
