CHAPTER 19 — On the Flight to Monaco

While the private jet cruised at thirty thousand feet, a different kind of drama was unfolding back at the university in Monaco. Justin, Aiden's best friend, was feeling particularly good about himself.

“Hey, Justin!” a familiar classmate greeted him cheerfully as he walked into the campus courtyard.

“Hi,” Justin smiled, adjusting his backpack.

“Are you busy?”

“No, not at all,” he replied, hopping onto an empty lunch table. “I was just looking for a bit of company.”

As Justin relaxed, a stunning woman—one he had admired from afar for months—approached him with a playful glint in her eyes.

“Is this seat taken?” she asked, gesturing to the space beside him.

“Not at all, feel free to sit,” Justin said, his heart doing a little dance. He offered to grab her lunch, and she happily agreed. As they sat together, Justin felt like he was finally winning at life. Midway through her meal, however, the lady paused, her expression turning curious.

“Can I ask you something, Justin?” she said, leaning in.

“Sure, go ahead. Anything.”

“I heard you’re quite close with the Smiths. Is that true?” she asked. Justin’s fork stopped halfway to his mouth.

“I heard your friend Aiden got close to one of the Smiths through you. Is that right?”

Justin hesitated. The attention was intoxicating. “Well… yeah… I mean, we move in certain circles,” he stammered, trying to sound more important than he was. “Can you give me a second? I need to use the restroom.”

“Of course,” she answered with a sly, triumphant smile.

“HUH?!” Aiden suddenly screamed, the sound echoing through the pressurized cabin and startling everyone on the plane.

“Sorry, I’m sorry,” he muttered frantically, bowing his head as a dozen pairs of eyes—including the flight attendants'—snapped toward him.

“What do you mean?” he whispered fiercely into his cell phone, turning away from the aisle.

“I mean what I said,” Justin confirmed on the other end, his voice sounding defensive.

“And what did you say exactly?” Aiden asked, his eyes wide with horror.

“Yes, I told her yes!” Justin replied.

“You said yes?! Are you crazy? Why would you say yes to a stranger about that?!” Aiden’s voice rose in pitch, completely oblivious to the fact that he was disrupting the serene atmosphere of the first-class cabin.

Damien, who had been focused on a high-stakes business call, frowned and lowered his tablet. Sean, sensing his boss's irritation, moved to intervene and tell Aiden to be quiet, but Damien raised a sharp hand, signaling him to stay back. The cabin fell into a heavy silence, making Aiden’s voice the only sound at 30,000 feet. He was still on the video call, gesturing wildly, completely unaware of the audience.

“How could you tell her that? By the way, which Smiths are you even talking about? Who are they to you?!” Aiden asked. In his panic, he had momentarily forgotten the reality of his own situation.

Charlie and Damien exchanged a look of pure bewilderment.

“What do you mean, ‘Who are they’?” Justin asked on the screen, looking confused. “The ones you’ve been disappearing with!”

“Seriously? Justin, where even are you right now?” Aiden laughed nervously, his hand shaking.

“I’m stuck on campus answering for you!” Justin replied with a massive eye roll.

“I don’t care! Besides, I don’t even know who those Smiths are, so don’t get ahead of yourself. Wait… the Smiths you mean—” Aiden paused.

His eyes slowly drifted to his right. There sat Damien, looking at him with a mixture of cold curiosity and suppressed amusement. To his left, Charlie was shamelessly eavesdropping with a smirk.

Aiden’s stomach dropped through the floor of the plane. “Oh no…” he whispered, slowly lowering the phone.