All Chapters of GUILTY DEVOTION: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

Cassie didn’t say much on the ride home. And for once, neither did I. The late-night air felt warm, thanks to the day’s chaos, but our car felt strangely calm. She leaned her head against the window, headphones in, and I let her be. She deserved the quiet time. We both did after the stress.When we pulled into the driveway, the porch light flicked on automatically, glowing hard to show everything in the area. Inside, the house smelled faintly of lavender and printer toner—a weird combination of comfort and stress that had somehow become home.I dropped my bag by the door and kicked off my heels. The ache in my feet had become so constant, I barely noticed it anymore. Cassie headed straight to her room, saying nothing more than a soft “Goodnight, maybe.”But she didn’t sleep.I knew that because twenty minutes later, as I sat at my desk in the corner of the living room—surrounded by files, my eyes bloodshot from too many hours of reading and rerunning headlines—I heard the soft clink o

The following week, the headlines flipped strongly in our favor. Yet, I didn’t smile because there was other things yet to be done.I read the front page three times. I took note of every name mentioned, every word carefully chosen to protect the outlet while still doing what it was always meant to do—plant doubt. And then I circled one name in red: David Lin.“You ready to finish what you started?” the Governor asked me as he passed my desk.His expression was way better than the last week. I could also see that he was back to his normal and goofy self.“I don’t finish things,” I said, rising to follow him. “I erase them completely till they don’t leave a trace.”His scoff almost cut my last sentence off as his fingers grazed the edge of my table. “This is the reason why I will forever cling onto you. I love how merciless you are without losing your way. That’s why you inspire me.” I couldn’t shake the last line off my head. It was a compliment that money could never buy. My shoulde

|Zara|The moment the email hit my inbox, I felt my stomach twist. It was definitely not from surprise, but from the cold finality of it.Subject: Formal Notice of SuspensionDuration: 3 Weeks (Zara Leigh)And a second later, Ryan let out a bitter snort from his side of the long glass conference table.“Well, shit. They didn’t even wait till we got back to our desks. That was so quick.”I stood immediately, my chair screeching against the polished floor.“They said it in the briefing, Ryan. You were getting six weeks. Me, too. It’s not a glitch.”He leaned back in his seat like it was all a joke. “Yeah, well, I didn’t expect them to be that damn prompt. This building’s only efficient when someone’s getting screwed.”“You mean like you trying to screw Cassie over and dragging me into it?” I snapped, grabbing my phone and bag.“Oh, come on, Zara. Don’t act innocent. You were pissed at her too. It’s not like you are a saint in all of this.”“Pissed doesn’t mean sabotage, Ryan.” I rounded

|Cassie|The day’s work was long and tiring, thanks to the absence of the two offenders. The company had been quite silent and laced with tension because of the suspension. Everyone was being careful of what to do or say since no one wanted to be caught in the management’s net.By the time I logged out and shut down the system, it was around seven in the evening. I was exhausted.I kicked off my heels with a sigh and dropped my tote bag beside Nicholas’s office couch. The day had dragged on longer than expected—back-to-back meetings, crisis calls, and a mountain of follow-ups from the suspension fallout. My limbs felt like wet sand, and my head buzzed from reading too many lines of press copy and policy memos.I figured Nicholas would be back soon, so I curled up on the couch for a few minutes to wait for him. Just a short rest before he comes back and we leave for the day.I didn’t realize when my eyes drifted shut. I was long gone before I knew it.The soft rustle of paper and the g

Nicholas sat at the corner of the Governor’s private lounge, tapping a pen against his leg. The Geneva manifest had just been released and something about it unsettled him—not in a loud, obvious way, but like a soft hum that something wasn’t right. He stared at the printed list again, his eyes locking on one name.Charles Kingsley.“You okay?” I asked, settling into the seat beside him.He blinked and nodded. “Yeah. Just... Charles is coming with us.”I tilted my head. “Your cousin? The one from trade policy?”“Mhm. We haven’t seen each other in years. Last I heard, he was doing consultancy abroad. Geneva’s a weird place for him to resurface.”“Why? Wasn’t he the one you were protecting badly when his name came in with the report that was tied to Ryan and Zara?”He glanced at me, pen stilling. “Because Charles doesn’t show up anywhere unless it benefits him. It still doesn’t mean he’s a bad person, though.”I raised an eyebrow. “But you still trust him enough to work together? And bel