"Do you know choking can kill?" he added, the same unchanged calm.
That made her pause. Not out of fear for herself, she had long since stopped measuring risk that way, but because she could not afford even the smallest threat to what she carried. She lifted the glass of milk more deliberately this time, taking smaller, measured sips, forcing her body to slow even as nausea still lingered at the edges of every swallow.
When the tray was finally empty, she lowered the glass with a faint tremor in her hand, breathing uneven but controlled. The room felt heavier now, the breeze from the open doors doing little to ease the tightness in her chest.
"Did you transfer the money I told you about last night?" she asked, her voice steadier than before, though urgency still threaded through it. "I need it."
