Jade’s POV
No.
That was the first thing that slamd into my head when the words left the resort manager’s mouth.
No.
Not disbelief. Not shock.
Just, no.
I stared at him like he had suddenly started speaking a language I didn’t understand, like he’d made so kind of mistake and hadn’t realized it yet.
“That’s not funny,” I said, my voice coming out too sharp, too loud. I could hear it echo in my ears. “You shouldn’t joke about things like that.”
The manager didn’t respond.
He just stood there, hands clasped in front of him, face solemn. Too solemn. Like he was playing a role he had rehearsed.
Sothing snapped inside my chest.
“You’re lying,” I said, shaking my head. “Sothing’s wrong. You got the wrong person. My mom is fine.”
Ronan stepped closer. “Jade....”
“No,” I snapped, turning on him. “No. Don’t start. She’s not dead.”
The words felt wrong in my mouth. Ugly. Impossible.
Renzo exchanged a glance with Ryder, and that was when it hit , harder than anything else.
They believed him.
“You see?” I laughed, a sharp, brittle sound that didn’t even sound like it ca from . “You all look ridiculous. This is so kind of prank, right? Maybe my mother got sick, maybe there was an accident, but dead?” I scoffed. “She wouldn’t just die. She doesn’t get to do that.”
My hands were shaking now. I shoved them into fists, nails biting into my palms.
“I need to go ho,” I said abruptly. “Now. There’s been a mistake. I need to see her.”
The manager opened his mouth again, but I cut him off.
“No explanations. I don’t want any explanation. I’m not listening. I want to go ho.”
I could feel it then, the way I must have looked. Hair undone by the sea breeze, eyes wild, breath coming too fast. I didn’t care.
I wasn’t wrong.
They were.
The boys didn’t argue. That was the strange part.
Ronan nodded once, jaw tight. “We’ll take you ho.”
Within minutes, everything moved too fast and not fast enough all at once. Staff scattered. Phones were brought out. Arrangents made. A private jet prepared like my world hadn’t just tilted off its axis.
As they ushered toward the car, Ryder gently reached for my arm.
I flinched away. “Don’t touch . I’m fine.”
I wasn’t.
But if I admitted that, even for a second, sothing awful might beco real.
The flight blurred together. I rember the hum of the engines, the pressure in my ears, the way my leg wouldn’t stop bouncing.
“She’s alive,” I muttered, staring at the floor of the jet. “She has to be. She always waits for in the mornings. She complains when I don’t eat breakfast. She yells when I co ho late.”
No one answered.
“I talked to her not long ago,” I insisted, louder now. “She was fine.”
Ryder shifted beside , his hand hovering like he wanted to reach for but didn’t dare. “Jade...”
“No,” I said again. “Don’t say it.”
Silence swallowed us.
They didn’t try to convince . They didn’t tell I was wrong.
They just stayed.
Ronan sat across from , elbows on his knees, eyes never leaving my face. Renzo leaned back, fingers clenched so tightly I could see the veins in his hands.
They looked... helpless.
Good.
Because that ant they didn’t know either. That ant there was still room for error.
When the jet landed, my heart started racing again.
See? I told myself. We’re ho. Everything will be normal.
Renzo dismissed the driver waiting on the tarmac and slid into the driver’s seat himself. “I’ll drive,” he said, already starting the engine.
The car took off fast, too fast, but I didn’t tell him to slow down. Every second felt stolen.
The Alpha estate ca into view, grand and unchanged. Guards stood at their posts. Servants crossed the courtyard, chatting quietly.
Normal.
Relief flooded my chest so hard it almost knocked the air out of .
I laughed, a real laugh this ti. “You see?” I said, twisting in my seat to look at them. “I told you. Everything’s fine.”
No one replied.
The car barely stopped before I jumped out, gown clutched in my hands as I ran.
“Mom!” I shouted, my voice echoing through the servants’ quarters. “Mom!”
Nothing.
I frowned, slowing down. Of course. She wouldn’t be here right now.
She’d be in the kitchen.
“She’s always in the kitchen by this ti,” I muttered to myself as I turned the corner. “Always walking around, bossing everyone.”
I burst through the kitchen doors.
The room was busy, but not the right kind of busy.
People moved stiffly. Quietly. No laughter. No shouting. No familiar voice cutting through the air.
My chest tightened.
I grabbed the arm of one of the won who worked with my mother, spinning her around. “Where is she?” I demanded. “Where’s my mom?”
She froze.
Her eyes darted away from mine.
“Answer !” I shouted.
She pulled her arm free and stepped back, lips trembling, saying nothing.
Sothing cold slid down my spine.
“What’s going on?” I demanded, turning in a slow circle. “Where is my mother?”
Ronan and Ryder stepped in behind . “Jade, please...”
I shoved them. Hard. “Don’t. Don’t do this. I need to see her.”
Footsteps sounded behind .
The head of the kitchen walked forward, her face flat. Empty. Like she was announcing the weather.
“Your mother died this morning,” she said calmly. “She slipped down the stairs while delivering breakfast.”
My world cracked.
“Her body was dumped in the empty barn at the backyard.”
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