A sharp jolt cracked through my head, and for one second it felt like my whole world exploded.
Then everything lined up.
Theo.
I’d been betrayed.
It finally made sense why Lewis ended up in trouble in the first place. When I called Theo in a panic, he didn’t rush to bring Lewis back. He didn’t send straight to him either. He insisted on taking a detour coming to pick up first.
Like he needed to "protect" .
Or like he needed to move .
Maybe from the very beginning, he planned to get rid of .
My mouth went dry as I stared at Yael in the dim light of the car. The road beneath us was still rough, still wrong. We weren’t heading ho. We weren’t even heading back to the city.
We were going sowhere quiet.
Sowhere people don’t scream.
My fingers dug into the blanket on my lap. The scent in the air was familiar leather, faint smoke, and sothing sharp underneath that made my instincts tighten. That bitter, tallic edge you sll right before trouble starts.
Theo was Lewis’s closest man. His right-hand. The one who handled everything paperwork, money, security, even the ugly parts nobody wanted to look at.
Lewis trusted him completely. He gave him control over his will. His assets. His future. Lewis never had a reason to doubt him.
But we missed one detail.
Theo was tied to the Doltons too.
That’s when the final piece clicked into place, so clean it almost made laugh.
The Doltons didn’t want Lewis dead. Not really. When he got hurt back then, they sent Theo to protect him. Theo stayed by his side, and over ti, that loyalty beca real. It beca a bond that ran deep, the kind you don’t break easily.
And I get it.
When you share danger with soone, it sticks to your skin.
Theo beca family to Lewis in everything except blood. He stood behind him in every battle, carried out every order, and even helped hide things that could ruin everything.
Including the truth about .
Lewis tried to change my fate. He even prepared for his own death like it was just another task on his list. He was willing to clear every threat in my way before he left.
He planned to crush the Blackwell brothers. He planned to save Whitney. He planned to make sure I could breathe after he was gone.
But then Amber saw the stone at my neck.
And she knew.
The mont her eyes landed on it, sothing in her face shifted. She didn’t look curious.
She looked like she’d found a target.
She must’ve told the Blackwell brothers. And to stop Lewis from changing anything, Theo handed right over.
Not because he hated .
Because his loyalty wasn’t simple.
If I died before the stone’s ti ran out, Lewis would live.
That was the deal he chose.
And now I understood the voice I heard right before I faded earlier.
"I’m sorry, ma’am."
I thought it was a dream. I thought it was dizziness.
But it was Theo.
Apologizing while he pushed toward the edge.
A bitter laugh slipped out of , soft and ugly.
What am I supposed to do with you, Theo?
I already figured out Lewis’s plan. I already knew what he was trying to do.
But you...
You were the one who actually shoved toward death.
Maybe this was fate. Maybe this was what the old woman ant how nothing ever moves in a straight line, how love and betrayal can wear the sa face.
Should I be angry?
He tried to protect Lewis. In his own way, he tried to "protect" too by making sure I never beca the reason Lewis died.
The heart is never clean. Never simple.
People don’t choose just one person to love. They choose who they can’t live without.
And right now, Theo chose Lewis.
Once the truth settled in my chest, sothing strange happened.
I got calm.
Not because I was safe.
Because I finally stopped guessing.
Fear cos from not knowing.
Now I knew enough.
I didn’t need to pretend anymore.
My hands weren’t tied. That alone told sothing. If Yael wanted dead already, I wouldn’t be sitting here breathing.
So I slowly sat up from the cushion, eting his eyes without flinching.
"You know everything now," I said.
Yael studied like I was a puzzle he didn’t expect to solve so quickly. His brows lifted a little. "So you’re not scared? I figured you would be."
"I probably should be," I admitted. My voice surprised even it sounded steady. "But it also feels like sothing heavy finally lifted. Like... relief."
I stared right at him, refusing to look away. "Yael, are you planning to turn into one of those figures?"
His mouth twitched, like he was amused against his will. "What led you to that conclusion?"
I let out a slow breath. Just a mont ago, I was careful with every word. Every blink. Every expression.
Now?
Now it felt like I was already standing at the cliff, so why pretend the ground was stable?
"The stone sculptures in the wedding room," I said. "And the wax figure in the basent. That was you, wasn’t it?"
"Yes," he answered, like it was nothing.
His honesty made my stomach turn more than a lie would have.
Then, right on cue, my stomach growled loud enough to embarrass .
I looked at him and said flatly, "I haven’t eaten since yesterday afternoon. Do you have anything?"
If he didn’t kill while I was unconscious, I was safe for the mont.
And I refused to face death hungry.
"I’ve got so," he said.
He reached into a bag and pulled out bread, milk, and a slice of cake. The way he moved was almost... polite. Like we were two normal people on a long drive, not enemies trapped in a quiet war.
I didn’t hesitate. If he wanted to poison , he had a hundred easier chances.
I bit into the cake too fast and almost choked.
He imdiately handed a straw. "Slow down."
I took a few sips, swallowed, and felt a little stronger. My hands stopped shaking as much.
I kept going, because silence felt like giving up.
"Why are you so obsessed with ?" I asked. "One statue wasn’t enough, you needed a wax figure too. Are you in love with ?"
Yael’s mouth curved, faint and sharp. "I thought I was the one with issues," he said. "And you’re asking about dismbernt in the middle of a al?"
I turned my head toward the window. Outside was nothing but empty land and gray sky, the kind of road where a person could disappear and the world would keep moving.
I exhaled. "I wasn’t always like this," I said quietly. "I wasn’t so twisted person who talks like this."
I looked down at the food in my hands, then back out at the emptiness.
"It’s because of you. Before, I was on edge every day. Always watching. Always guessing. Always running in my head."
I swallowed, throat tight.
"But now... everything is in your hands. And weirdly, that makes calr."
It felt like the idea of fate finally settled into my bones, heavy and cold.
A voice echoed inside , faint but clear.
There’s no way out.
You’re going to die.
The car stayed quiet. The only sound was the soft rustle of the bag in my lap and the tires eating up the road.
Then Yael finally spoke.
"Yes," he said simply.
My fingers froze around the straw.
He glanced at , eyes flat and honest.
"I like you."
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