Benjamin’s gaze lingered on him for a couple of seconds before shifting back to Olivia.
Jack swallowed hard, trying to maintain a calm composure.
It was a quick glance, but it was enough to make Jack break a sweat.
Olivia swallowed. "You are exhausted and maybe scared. You are connecting things that may not—"
Benjamin stepped closer, towering her. "Do not insult , Olivia. Don’t insult my intelligence."
There was silence.
Before she could say sothing, he said, "Go ho." His tone was calm but it was far more dangerous.
She blinked. "Benjamin—"
"I said go ho," he repeated. "I will not have you hovering, asking questions or pretending concern while I think."
Her jaw tightened. "You don’t trust ?"
He looked at her for a long mont.
"No," he said simply and that answer landed harder than shouting ever could.
Without waiting for a response, Benjamin turned and walked down the corridor, pulling his phone from his pocket.
"Get my assistant," he said the mont the call connected. "Imdiately."
He stopped near the nurses’ station, lowering his voice.
"I want everything," he continued. "Security footage, maintenance logs, the service history of Alexander’s vehicle. Find out who signed off on the last inspection and who was present. No shortcuts."
There was a pause and then he said, "Yes, do it quietly."
Another pause.
"And I want a background sweep on anyone who has been near Alexander in the last two weeks. Work, ho, everywhere."
His jaw tightened.
"Tighten the security around Alexander and I want bodyguards in all corners of the hospital until Alexander doesn’t get discharged." He paused, then added, "Allot a few bodyguards to Evelyn Carter as well."
He ended the call and stood still for a mont, breathing slowly, deliberately.
Benjamin’s hands curled into fists when the image of seeing his son in the hospital bed unconscious and hooked on machines flashed in his eyes.
"Not again," he murmured. "I already lost one father to ambition, I am not losing my son."
This ti, whoever had dared to touch his son had made a fatal mistake and Benjamin Reid was done choosing restraint.
.....
[Hospital—Late in the Evening]
Jack hadn’t left the hospital, he was too scared to go anywhere.
He stood near the vending machines at the far end of the corridor, the fluorescent lights buzzing overhead and the sll of antiseptic clinging to his skin like guilt.
He couldn’t sit.
Every ti he tried, his legs started bouncing and his chest tightened until it felt like his ribs were closing in on him.
Benjamin hadn’t said a word to him before leaving and that was the worst part.
There was no shouting, no accusations or punishnt.
He just gave her a single, sharp, asured, controlled and furious look before he walked away, already dialing his assistant.
And that look had followed Jack ever since.
’Dad knows,’ his mind whispered.
He did not just suspect, he knew.
Jack dragged a hand down his face, his breath coming uneven.
"This wasn’t supposed to happen," he muttered under his breath.
When he hired soone to sabotage Alexander’s car, he hadn’t expected things would get this serious. He had specifically told the man to ss the car just enough to make Alexander sustain minimal injury only.
But instead, Alexander was severely injured and almost lost his life.
Jack swallowed hard, his throat burning.
"I didn’t want him dead," he whispered, as if saying it aloud might absolve him. "I just wanted him to slow down."
He just wanted to slow him down, delay things and force him out of the way.
He hadn’t imagined blood, he hadn’t imagined machines beeping and his brother’s na shouted across an ergency ward.
His hands started shaking.
Jack clenched them into fists, nails digging into his palms until it hurt enough to ground him, regretting everything he had done.
He had always pushed limits, always crossed lines but sohow, every ti before, soone had fixed it, covered it and smoothed it over.
But this wasn’t a scandal or a reckless night.
This was an attack.
And Benjamin Reid did not forgive attacks on his family.
Jack exhaled sharply, panic blooming fast and ugly in his chest.
He could already imagine it—investigators, the quiet questions and untraceable n suddenly traced.
He knew that Benjamin would keep pulling threads until sothing snapped.
Jack then suddenly flinched thinking about Olivia because she had warned him.
And worse—she had helped him once already and she wouldn’t do it again.
She had said it clearly.
That realization made his stomach churn.
Jack leaned back against the wall, sliding down until he was sitting on the cold floor, head dropping into his hands.
For the first ti in years, there was no plan forming in his mind or a clever escape.
There was just fear, raw, choking fear.
What if sothing happens to Alexander? A complication?
The question hit him harder than anything else had.
If Alexander died, there would be no version of the future where Jack survived.
His chest tightened painfully.
"I didn’t an it," he said again, softer this ti. "I swear I didn’t."
But even as the words left his mouth, he knew how weak they sounded.
Intent didn’t matter anymore, only consequences did and Benjamin Reid had already begun moving.
Jack lifted his head slowly, eyes hollow, pulse pounding in his ears.
For the first ti in his life, he wasn’t worried about losing status or inheritance or Evelyn.
He was worried about losing everything.
And the scariest part?
Deep down, he knew he deserved it.
.....
Jack had been staring at the floor when he sensed soone nearby.
He looked up slowly.
Evelyn stood a few steps away, a paper bag clutched tightly in her hands. She had gone to bring so snacks for Alexander when she saw Jack slumped against the wall near the vending machines.
"Jack?" she said, confusion flickering across her face. "What are you doing here?"
He swallowed hard before answering. His eyes were red, unfocused like he hadn’t slept in days.
"I am here," he said quietly, forcing himself to stand, "to see Alexander."
Evelyn stiffened.
"You already saw him," she said slowly. It wasn’t a question.
Jack nodded once. "Yes."
There was an awkward pause. The hum of the vending machine filled the silence.
"He was awake," Evelyn said, "But now he is resting."
"Oh okay, I will leave then," Jack replied quickly.
Her gaze sharpened, sothing uneasy settling in her chest.
Jack noticed it imdiately and looked away.
"I just—" he ran a hand through his hair, stopping midway like he didn’t trust himself to finish the motion. "I didn’t feel right leaving."
Evelyn studied him. The usual smugness, the careless confidence—none of it was there. He looked smaller sohow and stripped down.
"You don’t look okay," she said.
"I am fine," he answered, before brushing past her.
Evelyn frowned and looked at his disappearing silhouette with an unease settling in her heart.
.....
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