Chapter 60

Lila’s POV

By the time I got home, the weight in my chest had grown heavier.

I told myself all afternoon that I would breathe easier once I left the office, once I put some distance between myself and Drew’s voice, that low, steady way he’d spoken about dismantling Max’s life piece by piece.

But the walls of my apartment didn’t quiet my mind. If anything, the silence made it worse.

I tossed my bag onto the couch, kicked off my shoes, and wandered aimlessly to the kitchen. My hands went through the motions, kettle on, tea bag in a mug but my thoughts were running on a completely different track.

Max.

Drew.

The baby.

I sat curled up on the couch, knees pulled to my chest with the mug of tea cooling untouched on the coffee table. The steam had already started fading, just like my earlier attempt to distract myself by watching some mindless TV. I couldn’t remember what was playing. I couldn’t even remember turning it off.

Max’s name felt different now. For weeks I had told myself I could handle him, that I was in control, that I could play him the same way he thought he was playing me. And maybe I could have believed that… until today.

Now that I have heard Drew and have seen the precision in his voice, the absolute certainty in his voice about dealing with Max, I was sure that he wasn’t going to get away with anything. Drew would see to that.

But if Max knew I had been in Drew’s corner all along? If he knew I started the plot even before Drew came along, what would he do to get back at me?

I wrapped my arms around myself, shaking my head at the thought of Max hurting me or my baby. He had already shown me what he was capable of when he offered to ‘take responsibility’ for the baby like it was a bargaining chip he could trade in exchange for my loyalty.

He didn't say it outrightly of course, but I know and I'm sure it was all part of his grand plan. The threat was there, coiled beneath his careful promises when he said he wanted to be there for me and my baby.

If Max decided to tell Drew about the baby…

The thought made my stomach knot.

Drew wasn’t the type to shrug off secrets. I have seen first hand what happens when someone crosses him, how methodically he stripped Max’s plan apart today, how calm he had been about it. It wasn’t just business for him; it was personal and he put a lot of effort into making sure it stung really well.

Would he look at me the same way if he found out I kept something this big from him? Would I become another problem to eliminate?

I carried my tea from the coffee table and took a sip. My contract with Sinclair Enterprises had just under a month left. Less than four weeks, and I could walk away, from Drew, from Max, from all of it.

But Max wasn’t going to vanish just because I wanted him to. And Drew wasn’t going to stop until Max was dealt with. Which meant there was almost no scenario where my name didn’t end up in the middle of the crossfire. The moment Max realized I have been on Drew’s side all along, the gloves would come off. And then my secret wouldn’t be mine anymore.

The pressure behind my eyes burned. My breathing went shallow, my fingers gripping the mug so tightly I was surprised it didn’t crack.

I couldn’t keep this bottled anymore. Not tonight.

Before I could second guess myself, I set the mug down, grabbed my phone, and scrolled to the one person I knew would listen without judgment.

“Mom,” I whispered as soon as she answered.

“Lila? Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” Her voice was soft but instantly alert, the way it always was when she knew something wasn’t right.

The sound undid me.

The tears came fast, faster than I could stop them. “Mom,” I choked out, my voice breaking. “I need you.”

Her tone sharpened instantly. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Talk to me, baby.”

I tried to answer, but the sob that broke from my chest swallowed the words. My free hand clutched the couch cushion like it could anchor me.

There was a pause on her end, just the faint sound of her moving, maybe sitting down. “Okay, I’m here. Talk to me, baby, take your time and just breathe." She said it with that steady, calming rhythm she always used since I was little. “You’re safe. Just tell me what happened.”

I took a shaky breath, then another, and somehow found the words. “It’s… it’s about Max. And Drew. And the baby.”

The silence that followed wasn’t confusion, it was her giving me the space to keep going.

“You remember I told you Max came back into my life a while ago?” I said. “We went to school together, and it just felt… familiar. Safe. But it wasn’t. He’s been lying, Mom. To me, to other people. I found out he was trying to manipulate me and ruin the project I was working on with Drew's company and since then I've been playing it safe with him, baiting him so I could find out his true intentions and stop him before he succeeds.

I also got to know that he's in the middle of this massive deal, a private art collection in Italy and he’s using other people’s money, telling them it’s worth less than it is so he can sell it for a huge profit. And he’s doing all of this while…” I trailed off, my chest tightening.

“While what?” she prompted gently.

“While trying to sabotage Drew's company,” I said. “I don’t know why, not exactly, but Drew found out Max was trying to sabotage the launch from me and also the shady deal he's doing. Now he’s going after it, not because of the investors, but to ruin Max. He wants to ruin him completely.”

She exhaled slowly. “And where do you fit in all this, Lila?”

I swallowed hard. “I’ve been helping Drew. In fact I brought Drew into the whole plot and Max doesn’t know. He still thinks I’m just there and that I trust him.

But if he figures it out, he could tell Drew about the baby. He already knows, Mom. He’s known for weeks, and he’s even offered to ‘take responsibility’ like it’s his decision to make. And if Drew hears it from him…” My voice cracked. “Drew’s not the kind of man who forgives that kind of thing.”

“You’re afraid of how he’ll react,” she said.

“I’m terrified.” The admission came out small, almost childlike. “You didn’t see him today, Mom. He was calm. So calm. Talking about pulling Max apart piece by piece. If he can do that to him, what would he do to me if he thought I’d betrayed him?”

I told her everything else. How Max had come back into my life, the little signs I had ignored, the way Drew had shown me the truth today in his office, the cold precision in his voice. How I just sat there realizing I might be standing between two men who both knew how to play dangerous games… and how I was one wrong move away from being the target instead of the bystander.

By the time I finished, I was exhausted, tears drying on my cheeks.

For a long moment, she didn’t say anything. Then, in that quiet, certain way she had, she said, “Lila, you’re going to have to tell Drew.”

The words hit me like a weight in my stomach. “Mom…I can't”

“You can,” she said firmly. “Here me out. If you don’t, Max will use it. He’ll dangle it over you until he decides the timing is right, and he’ll tell Drew in a way that makes it sound worse than it is.

If you give him the power to decide when and how Drew finds out, he will use it greatly against you. And from what you’ve told me, Drew is not the kind of man you want hearing that from someone else. Once that happens you will have no control over the story. But if you tell him yourself…”

I closed my eyes, trying to picture it. Drew’s face. His reaction. The way his gaze could cut through you even when he wasn’t angry.

“If you tell him,” she continued, “and at least you keep that control. He may be angry, he may need time, but it will be coming from you. And no matter what happens, you will be okay and you will handle it. You have always been stronger than you think.”

And also you can always come home, Lila. The door will always be open for you.

If it gets too hard, you pack a bag and get on the next bus and come home. We will be waiting for you with open hands.”

There was a faint rustle, and then another voice joined the line.

“Lila?”

I laughed weakly through my tears. “Hi, Dad.”

“I’ve been listening,” he said. “And I’m furious. Not just at Max but also at this Drew too, for making you feel like you have to walk on eggshells. I don’t care how powerful they think they are, they don’t get to scare my daughter. You hear me?”

“I hear you,” I said, smiling despite myself.

“If either of them makes you cry again, I’ll find them and have a… conversation with them.” he added, his tone full of dangerous promises.

That pulled a real laugh out of me, shaky but real. “Dad, you can’t just threaten people.”

“I’m your father. It’s in the job description,if either of them hurts you, I will tear them apart myself.” he said.

Mom sighed in the background. “Alright super hero let her breathe. Lila, do you want me to come to you? I can be there by tomorrow morning.”

I shook my head, even though she couldn’t see me. “No. Just talking to you both made me feel much better now. I think I know what I have to do.”

“You do,” Mom said softly.

“I do,” I echoed.

“Good girl,” Dad said. “And Lila?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t let either of those men decide your worth. You are worth more than whatever game they are playing.”

That almost broke me again, but I managed to hold it together. “Thanks, Dad. I love you both.”

“We love you too, baby,” Mom said.

When I ended the call, the apartment was still quiet, but it didn’t feel so heavy now.

I sat for a moment, letting the calm settle in, and then I knew.

If Drew was going to hear about the baby, it was going to be from me.

Not from Max.

Not as a weapon in someone else’s game.

If it started a storm, then so be it.

At least this time, I will be holding an umbrella.