Leonardo's POV
"Sorry, the number you're trying to reach is unavailable."
I groaned. "Ugh, what the hell. Did she block me?"
The espresso machine whirred from the kitchen, followed by Sebastian's annoying laugh.
"What's wrong? Just call her again," he said, peeking from the TV room door.
"This is the fifth time already!" My voice rose half an octave.
"Fifth?" Sebastian burst out laughing. "Dude, she must've hated you real bad."
"Not helping, asshole." I grabbed a piece of baguette from the table and threw it at his head. Missed.
"Why don't you just go to her place?" he said, casually stealing the same bread and taking a bite.
I sighed, staring down at my stupid house slippers like they were suddenly the most interesting thing in the room.
"What? You scared?" he teased.
I frowned. "Nope. But do I have to?"
Sebastian patted my shoulder, struggling to hold back his laughter. "Of course. That's how you win a woman, man."
I didn't answer. But when he walked away, his words stuck in my head.
Do I really have to?
~~~~~
Valerie's POV
"Mr. Nathan?"
Nathan smiled from the doorway, holding a bouquet of white lilies way too big to be polite.
"Emily, you're so hard to reach—wait, Emily! What happened to your face?"
"Uh… I had an accident," I replied awkwardly. "But… What are you doing here? How did you even find my place?"
"Well, that's easy. I just asked HR," he said lightly. The smile on his lips was too wide, changing too fast.
What the hell. His face looked like two different people in one second.
"Anyway, are you okay? I haven't seen you since… that terrible incident. I'm so sorry for your loss."
"Yeah," I said softly. "I'm feeling better now. Thank you."
Nathan stared at me for a long moment. His gaze looked gentle, but underneath it, something sharp made my skin crawl.
"Uh… would you like to come in? Tea or coffee?" I asked out of sheer politeness. Please say no.
"No, that's fine. I don't have much time," he said. "I just wanted to say hi. I'll get going then."
I nodded, pretending to smile in relief.
"Okay. Take care, Mr. Nathan."
He started to turn away, then stopped and looked back.
"Also… are you two really splitting up just because you… you know."
I froze. "What do you mean?"
"It's harsh, isn't it?" he said, squinting slightly. "You two look like one of those couples who only got married because you were pregnant. You're not like that, right?"
Cold. My blood turned cold. "No. We just… need some time."
My voice was flat, but my heart was pounding all the way up my throat.
Nathan studied me for a few seconds, then nodded slightly.
"If you say so."
And just like that, he left.
I closed the door slowly and exhaled. What a weird guy.
~~~~~
Leonardo's POV
I'd been sitting in the car for thirty minutes, staring at Emily's apartment door.
My hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, sweat trickling down my temple.
"Yo, man, what's up? Did you find Emily yet?" Sebastian's voice broke the silence over the phone.
"I… I just got here."
"No way. You left ages ago."
"Yeah, I had to stop by a few places first."
"Alright then, just make sure you apologize before you come back. I'm not letting you in the house otherwise."
"Asshole, it's my—"
Beep.
He hung up.
I exhaled sharply. "Okay, Leo. Let's do this."
But before I could get out, the apartment door opened.
Someone walked out.
A man.
Jonathan?
I straightened, eyes narrowing. What the hell was he doing there? Of all people… Jonathan?
No way. Was Emily actually Nathan's spy?
~~~~~
Sebastian's Apartment
"You're sure you didn't see it wrong?" Sebastian crossed his arms, his expression suddenly serious.
"No. You think I don't recognize my own brother's face?"
"I'm not saying that, I just…shit."
I glared. "What? Spit it out."
Sebastian scratched the back of his neck.
"Uh, the truth is, I didn't wanna tell you because I thought it was just her hobby. Which, honestly, surprised the hell out of me, considering the first time I met her, she was, like, painfully sweet."
"So? What kind of hobby?"
"Uhmm… she's into boxing. She even has a nickname, 'The Viper' in the Slither Ring."
"The Slither Ring?"
"Yup. You're probably not familiar, but in Avellyn, there's this place called Green Alley. Lots of… you know, illegal stuff."
"And Emily's there? You mean as a regular fighter?"
Sebastian nodded.
I went quiet. My head started buzzing.
Emily… The Viper.
"And you think Nathan's behind this?" I asked quietly.
Sebastian shrugged. "Could be. Nathan's insane, Leo. He could've planted Emily as your secretary just to—"
"Kill me." The words came out faster than I expected.
Sebastian went silent for a moment, then nodded. "Exactly."
I rubbed my face hard.
It makes sense. Emily… She's never been afraid of me. From the start, her eyes were too sharp, too sure, too alert.
She's never been just a secretary.
"Find someone who can spy on the Slither Ring," I finally said. "Tell them to gather everything about Emily. Or The Viper."
Sebastian's expression hardened. He nodded. "On it."
I stared up at the ceiling.
Whatever this is… it needs to end.
~~~~~
Valerie's POV
Ten minutes after Nathan left, my doorbell rang again.
I groaned, putting down the cup of tea I'd just made.
"What now—oh. Hey, guys."
Juno and Max stood there with two boxes of pizza and matching worried faces.
"Wow, dude. Who just left? You look upset," Juno said, poking my cheek.
"Ugh, no one. What are you two doing back here?"
"What? We can't be here?" Max gave me her signature puppy eyes.
I pinched her cheek. "That's not it. But if you came here because you're worried or something…guys, please—"
"You're fine. Okay, Val, we got it," they both said in unison, making me chuckle.
"Seriously, you two are like a pollution duet."
Juno raised a brow. "But we brought pizza."
I sighed, then smiled. "Fine. Come in."
They walked in, chatting away, but I knew exactly why they were here.
They were worried. And after everything that's happened, they had every right to be.
We spent the afternoon with cold pizza and laughter that wasn't entirely genuine.
Max fought Juno for the last slice while I sat there, holding a half-flat soda, just watching them.
For a few hours, the apartment felt like it used to, warm, loud, filled with pointless chatter.
And I let myself believe, even just for a moment, that everything was okay.
By the time the sun set, Juno was sprawled on the couch, laughing into a pillow, while Max half-dozed off watching TV.
I excused myself to take a shower, wanting to wash off the tension clinging to my skin.
Warm water ran down my back, but my mind stayed full of Nathan, of Leo, of the lies that were getting harder to maintain.
After a while, I walked back out to grab a drink.
But I froze at the doorway.
Their voices drifted through the dim light. At first, just murmurs, until one sentence made my stomach drop.
"...what if we just stop looking for Thomas's killer?" Max's voice was low, almost a whisper.
Juno sighed quietly. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah. Look at Val now. She's not the same, Jun. We said this was to help her, but the longer it goes on, the more it feels like we're dragging her back into hell."
Silence. The TV switched to a commercial, filling the room with hollow noise.
"I know," Juno finally said, her tone soft. "I've been thinking the same thing lately."
I held my breath, fingers gripping the door handle tight.
They thought I couldn't handle it anymore.
"Val's trying so hard to look strong," Juno continued, "but you remember how she was when her dad died, right?"
My heart sank. The world seemed to stop for a moment.
"She blamed herself for weeks," Juno said quietly. "I don't want her to go through that again."
I stepped back slowly, careful not to make a sound.
My breath trembled, but I kept my lips shut.
They weren't wrong.
They just didn't know everything.
From the shadowed doorway, I looked at the two people I trusted most, speaking out of love and realized that all this time, I wasn't just fighting my past.
I was fighting the fear of the people trying to protect me from it.
I went back to my room quietly.
And for the first time in a long while, I felt completely alone.