Chapter 71: Dig It

Xander’s POVEric answered on the second ring, his voice clipped and businesslike. “Sir.”“It’s time,” I said. My words came out flat but heavy, each one landing like a weight.There was a pause on the other end, long enough for me to hear the faint hum of background static. “You mean the blackout lead?”“Yes.” I stared at the window, though the curtains were drawn tight. “Mia remembered more. Sophie confirmed a figure was watching her ex that night. A tall man, dark coat.”Eric let out a low whistle, a sound I rarely heard from him. “Finally, something concrete.”“Not concrete yet,” I snapped, harsher than I’d meant to. My hand flexed around the phone, knuckles aching. “I need you to treat this like life or death. Because for Mia, it is.”There was no hesitation in Eric’s voice when he answered. It steadied, like steel sliding into place. “Understood. Where do I start?”“Pull every record from that bar,” I said, pacing the length of the study. “Staff lists. Guest lists. Security hire

Chapter 72: Important

Mia’s POVI found him in the study again.The door wasn’t fully shut, just cracked enough for light to spill into the darkened hallway. I might have walked past if not for his voice, low, sharp, commanding.“…I don’t care what it costs. Dig deeper. Don’t stop until you find it.”I froze in place, my hand brushing against the wall for balance. He was on the phone. Eric, probably. That clipped, measured tone was always reserved for him, for orders that carried weight. My heart began to race, thudding so loud in my chest I was afraid he’d hear it through the door.I leaned against the wall, steadying my breath, straining to catch more.“Update me by dawn,” he finished, his tone final, brooking no argument.The line must have gone dead, because silence swallowed the room. For a moment, it seemed like even the air itself stilled. Then came the faint clink of glass, liquid pouring, the familiar sound of him reaching for whiskey when the weight grew too heavy.I couldn’t stay in the hall an

Chapter 73: A Glitch

Xander’s POVThe silence in the boardroom was unbearable. It pressed down like a physical thing, heavy and suffocating, the kind of quiet that swallowed even the faint hum of the air conditioning. The long polished table gleamed under the sterile overhead lights, but the surface was littered with evidence, folders opened wide, names underlined in harsh red ink, photographs clipped to pages with corners bent from handling. Each picture stared back like an accusation.All eyes turned to me.“Mr. Blake,” the lead investigator said, his tone measured, but the question beneath it sharp. “You said earlier you had reason to believe someone closely orchestrated the blackout. Can you clarify?”I straightened slightly, my hand still resting on the edge of the folder before me. “It wasn’t random,” I said, my voice low but deliberate. “Too many convenient factors aligned. The timing. The people present. The sudden collapse of the security grid.” I glanced briefly at the spread of documents in fro

Chapter 74: Look Closely

Xander’s POVThe corridors outside the boardroom hummed with urgency, alive with movement and clipped voices. The sharp rhythm of footsteps echoed off the marble floor, mixing with the staccato ring of phones and the steady murmur of orders being passed from one agent to the next. Papers rustled, radios crackled, and the name on everyone’s lips was the same, Grant. It carried down the hall like a ripple, gathering momentum with every repetition. But deep in my gut, something twisted. The frenzy around me moved too quickly, too eagerly, as if the machinery of accusation had been waiting for a scapegoat to devour. I couldn’t shake the weight pressing at the back of my mind, the gnawing sense that we were moving toward a conclusion too soon. When the investigator approached, his eyes gleamed with the thrill of the chase. He was already carrying the scent of victory in his stride, folders pressed to his

Chapter 75: Fear

Mia’s POV The door slammed behind me harder than I intended, the echo reverberating down the narrow hall. The sound startled me, like a gunshot too close to my ears. My chest rose and fell as though I’d just sprinted a marathon, but it wasn’t my legs that carried the exhaustion. It was my heart, bruised and battered from blows it didn’t know how to endure anymore. Each breath was jagged, catching against the weight pressing down on me. Sophie’s voice cut through before the silence could press its claws too deep. Gentle, but edged with worry, it snagged me like a lifeline I wasn’t ready to take. “Mia, what happened there? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” I turned toward her slowly, though the movement felt heavy, deliberate, like I was dragging the world on my shoulders. My lips parted, but no sound came at first. When I finally

Chapter 76: Monster

Mia’s POVThe city lights blurred through the glass, streaks of yellow and white smearing against the dark like the world outside had turned into a painting I couldn’t touch. I sat curled on the couch, knees tucked tight against my chest, my body folded in on itself as if I could make myself smaller, invisible. The cushions beneath me were cold, unyielding. My hands shook, restless, refusing to be still no matter how hard I pressed them into my legs. Across the room, Sophie paced. Her steps were sharp, purposeful, though she had no destination. She looked like she was the one whose world had just caved in, not me. Her arms folded and unfolded, her jaw clenched, her eyes darting to me every other second, as though afraid I might dissolve into nothing if she looked away. “You’re shaking, Mia,” she said finally, voice tight with worry. “You need to eat something. Or at least breathe.&r