DEREK’S POV Lily held on to my arms as tears ran down her eyes uncontrollably. She was visibly shaken by whatever had happened or is happening. I rubbed my hands against her back once she let go. She was murmuring some incoherent words, scaring me to my bones. I’ve seen this coming and Henry had warned me about it as well but what I never knew was the magnitude.   “Won’t you ask me anything?” Lily asked. She was still crying and shaking in my arms. “How can I ask you anything when you’re in this state?” “Did you read the text?” she removed herself from me and pointed at her phone. I shook my head. I could already predict what was there. I ran my fingers through her hair, and cleaned her tears while she hiccupped. The tears had finally stopped but with the way she held on to my shirt, I’m sure she wasn’t feeling too well.   “Do you need me to get you water? Or maybe your drugs?” She shook

DEREK’S POV A few hours after my mom left, Lily walked into my room. I was sitting at the edge of the bed with my head down, my arm crossed against my chest, deep in thought. “What are you thinking about?” She asked as she waltzed in.“Aren’t you cold?” I pointed to the sleeveless top she was wearing. “I don’t even know if I can feel anything right now. It’s even hard to think,” She folded her hand against her chest. I reached out to her and pulled her to me.“Hey. Come here,” She walked into my arms and I made her sit on my lap.I placed her head on my shoulder, cradling her in my arms like a child. She needed to feel protected and that’s my new responsibility. “You’ll be fine, I promise,” I assured her.“It’s not about me anymore, Derek. If anything happens to

LILY’S POV I was in the middle of the exams when Derek stood up and went outside to attend to his friends that came to visit. The same ones he mentioned earlier. Before I started the exam, he had told me he received other messages from Scarlet. I told him I would call her after the exam.   “Can you come outside once you’re done?” Derek asked from behind me. “Okay,” I mouthed the word back to him.   “Sorry I interrupted you,” he apologized. I wanted to tell him it was okay but he walked out at once. I swallowed my words and focused back on the exam. I had to submit both the workings and the answer making this exam harder than the paper I had yesterday.   After I was done, I stretched since I’d been sitting for more than two hours. After stretching, I walked out of the room. The first person I saw standing outside the room while on a call was a total stranger. I hadn’t seen his face bef

DEREK’S POV “You’re right, Lucas. We have the right people except for the third guy. I think he joined the mafia gang after Lily left,” I announced as I walked into my kitchen to meet the three men talking about something. “How long has the foundation kept her hidden from Roman and his cohort?” Sebastian asked.   “I think three years,” I replied, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. “That’s enough time for them to have a new addition but still, it doesn’t save him from whatever is going to hit them,” Luke added.   Sebastian snorted. “I don’t trust you enough to believe you won’t leave us hanging after the plan has been hatched,” “He did it years ago, he can do it again,” Henry concluded Sebastian’s statement.   “Whatever he does is none of my business,” I said, quickly closing off the topic before another round of argument starts again. “All I’m intere

Derek’s POV Q was actually the last person I’ll ever think to betray me. I haven’t seen him since he brought the document to my home and I’d been wondering about his whereabouts. This is unbelievable. “You must be insane,” I told him. He shrugged, and removed the gun from Lily. “I’m just someone who wants to avenge his brother, I guess you Americans think that’s insane, right?”What the hell was he talking about again? I turned to the door, expecting Lucas to have walked in. If they didn’t see me outside in twenty minutes, they were supposed to barge in, armed. “Lily, tell me what you told him. You said I did something to you, right? I want to hear you say it again,” Lily looked at me and began shaking her head. Tears were running down her face as she smashed her lips together, refusing to say a word. I couldn’t stand still and do nothing anymore, I moved closer and Roman fired the floor, making me move back. “Don’t provoke me, Miller,” He walked back to Lily and grabbed her arm