All Chapters of Everything Except You: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

She did not go to bed. She did not sleep. She picked up her phone at eleven forty-three. She opened Amirah's contact. Typed. "Hi Amirah.. are you guys ok?" "Is Liyana okay?" Three words. She looked at them for a moment. She wanted to ask more, she sent them. The reply came in forty seconds. "Zoya, She's perfectly fine, asleep." "Raiyan is with her." "Don't worry, please stay safe." Zoya looked at the screen. She typed back. "You too. Thank you." She put the phone down. She stared at the ceiling. She pressed her lips together once. But she stayed exactly where she was. She told herself she would. She checked on Riyana — her small face in the nightlight, Brownie at the foot of the bed, the absolute boneless peace of a child who had not felt an earthquake and had not spent the evening in a building that shook — and she stood in the doorway for longer than she needed to and then she went to the window instead of her room. The city outside was doing what it always did. Ind

Across the Atlantic, In Zurich, Adam Al Fayez had been in the meeting for three hours. He finished it in two. He did not examine why. Le Blanc at eight meant the kind of lighting that turned everything gold and the kind of quiet that cost money to maintain. Adam arrived at seven fifty-three. He ordered whiskey. He looked at the door. She was seven minutes late. He noticed. He did not usually notice. She walked in and the room did the thing rooms did when a woman entered who had decided exactly what she was doing. Not loud. Not performing. Just — there. The satin dress caught the light as she moved, deep burgundy against her pale skin, fitted through the waist and falling long, the kind of dress that did not ask for attention and received it anyway. Her hair was down — loose blonde curls past her shoulders, the specific softness of something that had not been arranged so much as allowed. She saw him immediately. She did not rush. He stood when she reached the table. Old re

He exhaled — the exhale of a man who had been having this specific argument his entire adult life and had never once won it. “The case. It’s everywhere. Mansoor Corp, the trial, You’re in the same room as Raiyan Al Mansoor every day and Omar has eyes on everything connected to that name. You couldn’t have hidden it even if you’d tried. The media suppression only goes so far with something this high profile.” She turned another page. “She must be restless.” “She is.” A beat. Something shifted in his voice. Quieter. More careful. “She’s been making calls. Moving things. I don’t have specifics yet but the energy in the house is—” “Keep an eye on her. Everything she moves, everyone she calls. I want to know before she does it, not after.” “Zoya.” His voice shifted again. Warmer now. The specific warmth of someone who was going to say something she was not going to receive well and had decided to say it anyway. “I want to see you. And Riyana. I haven’t seen my niece in—” “You’ll see t

Raiyan didn't answer immediately. Michael had worked for him for six years. He had never once asked that question about a witness. Or a plaintiff. Or opposing counsel. "Every hour," Raiyan said. "Until I say otherwise." "Of course." He ended the call. Michael sat with the phone in his hand for a moment. Every update for three weeks had ended with the same name. He made a note. Said nothing. Went back to work. ⸻ Raiyan got out of the car. Malik. He walked toward the entrance and stopped. She had walked out eleven minutes ago. She was somewhere in this city in Faiyaz Malik's car and he had no legitimate reason to be standing in this car park and no explanation for being here that she would accept. His phone lit up. Michael. "Sir. The SUV just moved. Repositioning south — back toward Joseph's route." He stared at the screen. She wasn't heading back to Joseph's. They didn't know that yet. He pulled up the Lamborghini's last known position on the feed.

She looked up from her napkin. "I'm not walking away." "I know you aren't. But what happens if you did?" She looked back out at the dark water. "The people who were targeted lose their recourse." "Besides that." "The framework Loujain built stays perfectly intact." "Besides that, Zoya." She didn't answer. "You go home," Faiyaz said. "You go back to LA. To Riyana. To Joseph. To a regular life that doesn't involve seeing him across a corridor every single morning." He tilted his head slightly, studying her face. "That is not the worst outcome in the world." "Faiyaz." "I am completely serious." "I know you are." She looked back at him, her hazel eyes heavy. "That is exactly why I am not engaging with the question." He leaned back against the cushion of his chair. "You are the most stubborn person I have ever met in my life. And I went to school with Amer." "Amer is not stubborn," she countered quietly. "Amer is simply wrong about everything he says and refuses to