LOGINPOV: EvelynI had spent hours at Malachi’s and by the time I get home, I don’t switch on the main lights when I step inside, just the small ones and I drop my bag by the table and stand there for a moment. The project is still open on my laptop from earlier, sitting there like I had instructed some of the staff to keep it before I got home. I sit down and pull it closer, letting the chair take my weight while I go back into the files. It’s easier to think when I’m working. Samantha’s trail is clearer now, but every time I fix one layer, I find another one sitting underneath it. Money moving through accounts that don’t belong to her, names swapped out just enough times to delay attention, and timing that feels too intentional to be random. It isn’t messy work. It’s careful work. Which means she didn’t do it in panic. She did it with time.I lean back slightly, exhaling through my nose as I scroll through another set of transfers. It all connects to the same point, just like I though
POV: MalachiI know something is wrong before they even reach the car. Toby is talking but it’s not the same kind of talking as before. It’s slower, uncertain, like he’s trying to figure out if he’s allowed to ask questions or not. And Evelyn… she’s not saying anything.That’s the problem.She’s too quiet. I open the back door for them and Toby slides in first, still looking over his shoulder like he’s expecting something to follow. Evelyn gets in after him without a word, her movements rigid in that way that tells me she’s holding something down hard.I shut the door and walk around to the driver’s side.By the time I get in, Toby is already looking at her again.“Mom… what was that?” he asks carefully.Evelyn doesn’t answer immediately. She leans back slightly, one arm resting against the door, her gaze fixed ahead like she’s watching something that isn’t there.“Nothing you need to worry about,” she says finally.“That man said—” Toby starts.“I said it’s enough, Toby,” she cuts in
POV: EvelynBy the time evening settles in, I’m already done with the office.Not because there isn’t work to do. There’s too much of it, actually. Too many files and that project sitting right at the center of everything like a loaded gun no one else realizes is about to go off.But I don’t stay because staying there means sitting in the same space Arthur walked into earlier and that fucking creeped the hell out of me.So I leave.I go to the school to pick Toby up myself for the first time in a while. He runs up to me the second he sees me, backpack half falling off his shoulder, talking before he even reaches me.“Mom, we had this thing today and I almost won but then Daniel cheated—”“He didn’t cheat,” I say automatically, crouching slightly to fix his bag properly. “You just didn’t win baby. That's a serious accusation and you should learn to accept loosing baby.”“That’s the same thing,” he insists.“It’s not.”He huffs like I’ve personally offended him, and I almost smile.Almo
POV: ArthurI don’t go far.That’s the first thing I realize after I step out of her office and the door shuts behind me. I make it down the hallway, past her assistant, past the glass walls and the quiet hum of people pretending not to watch me, and then I keep walking like I actually have somewhere to be.I don’t.By the time I reach the elevator, I already know I’m not done here.The doors slide open and I step inside, jaw tight, my mind running through that conversation again whether I want it to or not. The way she looked at me. The way she didn’t hesitate. The way she said no like it was the easiest thing in the world.There wasn't even anger in her response The doors closed and I stared at my reflection in the metal surface for a second longer than I should. I look exactly the same. .But something under it feels… off.The elevator reaches the ground floor and I step out, moving through the lobby without slowing down. People move out of my way automatically, like they always do
POV: EvelynBy the time I get back to my office, everything looks exactly the way it’s supposed to. I step through the glass doors without breaking stride, already scanning the space out of habit. My assistant looks up immediately, straightening in her seat.“You’re back early,” she says.“Something came up,” I reply, already walking past her.“Do you want me to—”“No interruptions unless it’s urgent,” I cut in, not slowing down.She nods quickly. “Understood.”I don’t wait for anything else. I push my office door open and step inside, letting it close behind me with a soft click that shuts out the rest of the world.For a second, I just stand there.Not because I don’t know what to do, but because my mind is already running through everything at once. Rebecca’s words, the confirmation about Samantha, the fact that they thought Toby was leverage like he was just some piece in a game they could move around whenever they felt like it.My fingers curl slightly at my sides.I move to my d
POV: ArthurI don’t like repeating myself.It’s a simple rule I’ve had for years because when people make me repeat things, it usually means they’re stalling, lying, or trying to figure out how much I already know. And right now, sitting across from Rebecca with a glass of untouched whiskey in my hand, I can already tell she’s doing at least two out of three.She looks completely at ease.That’s the first problem.Rebecca doesn’t look like someone who just got dragged into a situation that’s starting to fall apart. She’s leaning back in the chair like this is a casual meeting, one leg crossed over the other, fingers tapping lightly against the armrest like she’s bored.It’s calculated.It’s always fucking calculated with her.“You called me here just to stare?” she asks, tilting her head slightly, a faint smirk pulling at her mouth. “Or is there an actual point to this meeting of yours?”I take a slow sip of my drink, letting the silence stretch just enough to irritate her before I se







