"No," I say again with a weak laugh. "Apparently that’s my default answer now."
His voice softens instantly.
"How’s Zane?"
"Annoying. Which ans he’s alive and well."
A quiet chuckle leaves him.
"Good."
I lean against the balcony railing, staring out at the gray sky.
"We fixed the funeral date," I say quietly after a mont.
Lucas goes silent for a second.
"When?"
I tell him the date softly.
"That soon?"
"I don’t think dragging it out will help."
"No," he agrees quietly. "Probably not."l
I close my eyes briefly.
"She didn’t deserve this."
"No," Lucas says firmly. "She didn’t."
The ache in my chest returns instantly.
God.
Margaret really is gone, even saying it in my head still feels unreal sohow.
Lucas must hear the shift in my breathing because his voice becos gentler.
"Hey."
I swallow hard.
"I keep expecting her to walk into the kitchen yelling at sobody."
He exhales quietly.
"I know."
I wipe quickly at my face before tears can properly start again.
"I’m tired of crying."
"You don’t get to decide grief on a schedule, El."
"I know."
"You’ve been through hell these past few days."
The understatent almost makes laugh.
Instead I stare down at the wet gardens below.
"How’s grandpa?" I ask quietly.
"He’s stable this morning."
Thank God.
At least one good thing.
"And Noah?"
"He’s downstairs arguing with security because they won’t let him bully his way into seeing Aaron."
A startled laugh escapes .
"That sounds about right."
"Apparently threatening federal charges isn’t working."
"Shocking."
Lucas laughs softly too, and for a second things feel almost normal again.
Almost.
Then his tone shifts slightly.
"You need anything?"
I glance back toward the bedroom door behind instinctively.
"I just need everybody alive for like five minutes."
His voice softens again.
"We’ll figure this out."
I want to believe that, I really do but lately every ti things start calming down, sothing worse happens.
Still...Maybe hope is all we have left right now.
"I should call Noah too," I murmur.
"Tell him yourself. He’s already on his way there."
I blink.
"What?"
"He said you sounded terrible yesterday and he doesn’t trust you not to emotionally collapse."
I scoff weakly.
"That’s rude."
"He’s not wrong though."
"Traitor.
Lucas laughs again.
Then quieter now, "We’re here, okay?"
My throat tightens painfully.
"I know."
And for the first ti in days...I actually believe those words.
Lucas goes quiet for a second on the other end of the line.
"What?" I ask slowly.
"You rember that thing you asked to check so ti agao ?"
Every muscle in my body stiffens imdiately because I know exactly what he ans and suddenly I wish I didn’t.
My grip tightens around the phone as cold wind brushes across my face out on the balcony. The thing I asked him to investigate feels stupid now, and dangerous too...especially after everything that’s happened between and Zane these past few days.
After almost losing him, after realizing I actually do love him:..maybe so things are better left alone.
Lucas exhales softly.
"You still want to know?"
I don’t answer imdiately. Because honestly? I don’t know, part of desperately wants to hang up before he says another word but another part of needs the trut and clarity, even if it hurts....Especiall if it hurts.
My pulse starts beating harder.
"What did you find?" I ask quietly.
"El."
I close my eyes tightly.
"Just tell ."
"You sure?"
No. Not even remotely.
But I force the word out anyway.
"Yes."
Silence stretches between us for a second too long and in that silence my mind starts spiraling imdiately.
What if Zane lied to ? What if everything between us is built on manipulation? What if the feelings I’m drowning in aren’t even real to him?
God.
Why does my chest already hurt?
Behind , I can hear faint movent inside the bedroom. Probably Zane shifting around or getting irritated that I’ve been gone longer than five minutes. The thought sohow makes this worse, because now there’s sothing to lose. Lucas finally speaks again, voice quieter this ti.
"I checked the transfer records like you asked."
My heartbeat skips.
"And?"
"There was definitely help from the inside."
A chill crawls slowly down my spine.
"I knew it," I whisper.
"But that’s not the worst part."
My stomach drops instantly.
"Lucas."
"The order to move Aaron temporarily before the attack?" he says carefully. "It ca from soone using Zane’s private authorization codes."
I freeze completely.
"What?"
"There’s more," he says grimly. "Whoever did it knew details that only a very small number of people should’ve known...that’s Zane’s very close confidants."
My thoughts imdiately start racing.
The staff break, the security rotations.
Aaron’s location. Everything.
Soone clos....Soone close enough to destroy all of us from the inside. And suddenly I feel sick.
"Do you think it was soone working for him?" I ask shakily.
"I don’t know yet."
"But?"
Lucas hesitates and that hesitation terrifies more than anything else.
"But," he says slowly, "there’s one thing bothering ."
I grip the railing tighter.
"What?"
"The codes used that night weren’t just Zane’s."
I stop breathing.
"What do you an?"
Another pause.
Then quietly:
"They were yours too."
"What the fuck do you an my codes?" I whisper.
My voice cos out thin, like all the air just got punched out of my lungs on the other end of the line, Lucas exhales heavily.
"El, calm down first."
"How am I supposed to calm down?" I snap quietly, imdiately lowering my voice again when I realize I’m almost shouting. I glance back toward the bedroom door instinctively. "What do you an my authorization codes were used?"
"The system logs showed both yours and Zane’s access signatures around the sa tifra."
"That makes no sense."
"I know."
"No, Lucas, seriously. That literally makes no sense." My heart is beating so hard now it almost hurts. "I don’t even know how to use half the security systems in this house."
"I’m aware."
"Then how the hell would my codes even be involved?"
"That’s what I’m trying to figure out."
I start pacing the balcony now, barefoot against the cold stone floor. My free hand grips the back of my neck tightly while panic starts spreading through my chest like wildfire.
This is bad. Very bad.
Because if soone has access to both my security credentials and Zane’s...Then this goes way deeper than we thought.
"Oh my God," I breathe.
"El."
"What if they’re trying to fra ?"
"They are."
I stop pacing imdiately.
"What?"
Lucas’s voice hardens.
"That’s exactly what this looks like."
A cold chill crawls slowly down my spine.
"But why?"
"Because whoever’s behind this is smart."
Too smart...The realization settles heavily in my stomach, everything lately feels calculated.
Aaron escaping, the timing of the attack, the staff being gone, the codes and that call earlier. Nothing about this feels random anymore.
Then suddenly another thought hits .
"Mia."
Lucas goes quiet for half a second and imdiately I know.
"What about Mia?" I ask sharply.
"El..."
"No, don’t ’El’ . Tell ."
I hear papers rustling faintly on his end before he finally speaks again.
"That thing you asked to look into regarding Mia..."
My stomach twists harder.
"What about it?"
"It doesn’t look like Zane did it."
I blink Completely stunned.
"What?"
"The more I dig into it, the ssier it gets." Lucas sounds frustrated now. "At first glance it pointed toward him too perfectly. Almost suspiciously perfect."
I lean harder against the railing.
"What does that an?"
"It ans sobody put a lot of effort into making sure all roads led back to Zane."
My thoughts start scrambling imdiately.
"But... why would soone do that?"
"To put a target on him."
Lucas’s answer cos instantly.
"To destroy trust around him. To make sure everybody close to him eventually turns against him maybe?"
I stare blankly out at the rain-covered estate below. Suddenly my chest feels unbearably tight.
Because if Lucas is right... Then Zane’s been telling the truth this entire ti and I doubted him.
God.
I doubted him. Guilt crashes into so hard I almost feel sick.
Inside the bedroom behind , I can faintly hear him in the background anwhile I’m out here finding out soone may have been systematically destroying his life from the shadows.
"Lucas," I whisper shakily. "Do you know who it is?"
A pause. Then carefully:
"I have an idea."
My heartbeat jumps instantly.
"Who?"
"I’m not saying yet."
"What? Why not?"
"Because suspicion isn’t proof."
"Lucas..."
"El, listen to ." His voice sharpens slightly. "If I accuse the wrong person right now, it could blow everything apart."
"But if you know sothing...."
"I said I have a theory."
Frustration burns through imdiately.
"Well tell the damn theory!"
"No."
I nearly choke.
"No?
"You get emotional and reckless."
I gasp dramatically.
"That is so rude.
"And accurate."
"Lucas!"
"I’m serious."
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