LOGINHarper pov
A cold wave rolls through me, tightening around my ribs like a vice. My fingers grip the coffee cup a little harder as nausea creeps into my throat.
“How did you find out what that house was worth?” Mason asks suddenly, pulling me back to the memory I’ve tried to bury for years.
I blink, forcing myself to concentrate. “He had paperwork,” I say slowly, my voice barely above a whisper. “From a surveyor, I think. He said he’d inherited the house a few months earlier after someone in his family passed. When the fire happened, they ran the numbers, I guess to claim insurance or just figure out what was lost.”
“What was the estimate?” Nathan presses gently.
It is easy to remember. “Something like one million six hundred. Maybe a little under that.”
Nathan lets out a slow breath
Harper povA cold wave rolls through me, tightening around my ribs like a vice. My fingers grip the coffee cup a little harder as nausea creeps into my throat.“How did you find out what that house was worth?” Mason asks suddenly, pulling me back to the memory I’ve tried to bury for years.I blink, forcing myself to concentrate. “He had paperwork,” I say slowly, my voice barely above a whisper. “From a surveyor, I think. He said he’d inherited the house a few months earlier after someone in his family passed. When the fire happened, they ran the numbers, I guess to claim insurance or just figure out what was lost.”“What was the estimate?” Nathan presses gently.It is easy to remember. “Something like one million six hundred. Maybe a little under that.”Nathan lets out a slow breath
Harper’s POVI look between Nathan and Mason, and something heavy settles in my chest. Whatever they’re about to say, I can feel it. It’s not going to be good. It’s there in the tightness around Nathan’s jaw, in the way Mason keeps glancing toward the door as if expecting someone to interrupt. Something’s coming, and it’s not something they’re looking forward to saying.“Theo doesn’t know much of this either,” Nathan says, his voice low but steady.So they kept it hidden from him too.The door opens before I can ask anything else, and Theo walks in holding two cups of coffee. He sets them both down on a side table, then reaches for me like it’s the most natural thing in the world. I don’t resist when he lifts me. I let him carry me to the smaller sofa tucked under the w
Nathan POVMy forehead is pressed flat against the desk, cool wood doing nothing to ease the pounding behind my eyes. The room still feels like it’s swaying, like I’m stuck on a boat with no anchor and no hope of finding shore. My mouth is dry, my skull feels too tight, and every blink hurts.I force myself to lift my head, groaning as my vision adjusts. Theo is lying on the floor like a discarded marionette, one arm flung over his eyes, snoring softly.What the actual fuck.I push up from the chair and stumble toward the door, gripping the frame for a second before steadying myself. Everything feels off. Too bright. Too loud. I need water. Or coffee. Or a new goddamn brain.By the time I make it to the kitchen, the sound of laughter rolls toward me, low and familiar. Mason and Harper.Perfect.
Mason's POVMy eyes snap to Theo and Nathan, both of whom are still giggling about absolutely nothing.“Are you telling me,” I say slowly, “that these two idiots are high? Because they ate a lot of that stuff.”There’s a long pause on the line.“…Yes. That’s what I’m saying.”I hang up without another word.Theo and Nathan both look at me.“I hate you,” I say flatly.Theo grins. “You say that, but your voice says concerned guardian of two brilliant disasters.”Nathan gives a mock salute. “Permission to hallucinate responsibly, sir?”I groan and walk straight out of the room. They can both stay in there and laugh themselves into a coma.
Mason's POVWe get back to the house, and I carry her up the stairs, cradled carefully in my arms. She doesn’t stir, not once, not even when I push open the door to the room she’s been sleeping in and ease her down onto the bed. She’s completely out, and honestly, I’m glad for it. She needs the rest. The stillness. The space.She needed it even before all this, after the weekend that ripped her open and left her raw and bruised.She should’ve stayed here, grounded herself in something safe before facing Mark. But she didn’t, and now she’s carrying too much. Finding out she was never free, not really. That Mark had been selling her, betraying her, lying to her face while sleeping around behind her back. That he filmed it. That he kept evidence. That he still thought she belonged to him.Then there’s
Harper's POVMy hand starts to shake.Nathan leans over, his eyes narrowing as he looks at the photos with me.“How?” I manage to ask, my voice flat and cold.Mark gives a smug shrug. “You do remember I booked the room for you every time, right?”I whip my head toward him. “So what... you stood there and took pictures?”“Oh no,” Theo says cheerfully. “He didn’t just take pictures.”He tips the case over, and a handful of USB sticks tumble out across the table, clicking like teeth as they scatter.I feel like I’m going to throw up.“You’ve got a big voyeur fetish, don’t you Mark?” Theo says with a grin, crouching beside the mess like he’s browsing a pile of DVDs.I shoot him a sharp look. “Really, Theo?”“What?” he says innocently. “I’m just making an observation. The man’s practically a documentary filmmaker.”“This can’t be real,” I whisper, still staring at the photos in my hand.“Oh, it’s real,” Theo murmurs, leaning over to look. “And fuck, you look hot in that one.”My head jerks







