Suzanne blinked, caught off guard by his admission. "Apologize?" she repeated, her tone incredulous. "For what?"
"For everything," Andrei said quietly. "I know that I've kept you at arm's length, treated you like nothing more than a business arrangement. But I see now that it's been wrong, and I regret it."
Suzanne felt the walls around her heart start to crack, but she quickly pushed the emotion aside. She had no room for sentimentality—not when she was so close to finding the truth.
"Andrei," she began, her voice firm, "I never wanted your apologies. I don't need your sympathy. I need answers. I need to know what really happened to my sister."
Andrei's face hardened, and for a moment, the warmth that had softened his features evaporated, replaced by the cold, calculating man she had come to know. "I told you before, Suzanne," he said, his voice sharp. "I had nothing to do with your sister's death."
