Chapter 132: Shattered Alliances

"Nat," Tony began cautiously, his voice barely above a whisper, "what if everything you thought you knew about your enemy turned out to be a lie?" Natasha paused in the act of folding laundry, her brow furrowing in thought. "Well," she said slowly, "that would be a shock, for sure. But the truth is, Tony, sometimes even the most firmly held beliefs can be wrong. It's about what you do after you find out. You adjust your course, learn from your mistakes, and keep moving forward on the right path." Tony remained silent, his gaze fixed on a point beyond the window. Natasha studied his profile, her intuition tingling. The way he held himself, the tightness around his jaw – it all spoke of a fundamental shift in his perception of something important. Hesitantly, she ventured a question that had been brewing in her mind since his arrival. "Tony," she began, her voice soft, "is this about Tiago? Do you think... maybe he wasn't responsible for—" The words caught in her throat as Tony's hea