Rex remained silent for a long beat, his gaze fixed on the crowd but his mind clearly elsewhere. Then, he let out a low exhale, glanced at her with something that hovered between admiration and sadness.
"You've got guts," he said quietly. "Most people would've folded by now. Given in, sold out, become what the world told them they had to be. But you? You're still standing. Still fighting. That matters more than you think."
Lena blinked, clearly not expecting the compliment—especially not delivered in such a calm, grounded tone. Her lip twitched slightly, caught between a smirk and something more vulnerable.
"You trying to be charming again?" she asked.
Rex shrugged. "Just telling the truth. That's rare enough in this place to count as a compliment, right?"
She didn't answer immediately, but the silence between them softened.
