Chapter XXX:

Stillness thickened around them, the silence pressing in on both sides. Without fanfare, Noah reached for a bottle from a halfopen crate and flipped the cap off with practiced ease. He filled his own glass first and then topped off the one in Blaine’s hand. The quiet splash of liquid was the only sound breaking the tension. “Not a single clue has turned up yet,” Noah remarked, his voice steady but each word landing like a blow.

A sudden shudder ran through Blaine’s body at the news. Slowly, he raised his head, his bloodshot eyes brimming with agony and defeat.

His lips twitched as he tried to smile, but only a grimace emerged, and his voice rasped out, raw and broken. “Clue, huh… None of it matters. This is all my fault. Every bit of it.” Without warning, Blaine struck his own cheek, the sharp smack slicing through the hush of the riverbank.

Guilt tumbled from his lips in a desperate rush. “I should never have let Tina come here alone. If I’d noticed sooner, if I’d just stayed with her… none of this would have happened. This is on me. Every bit of it.” Regret weighed down every word as his fists trembled at his sides.

space and watching quietly as

the raw sobbing slowed, replaced by deep, uneven breaths. That was when Noah spoke, his voice calm as ever. “Did Tina cross anyone recently, someone who might have wanted to hurt her?” The question landed

the memory hit him—his strange allergic reaction and the sudden fainting episode from some time back. It had passed as quickly as it came, leaving even the doctors puzzled. At the time, he had dismissed it as nothing more than accidentally swallowing something, never investigating further.

message had mentioned Malcolm and Nirvana, and the words still echoed in his memory.

at that tense shareholders’ meeting, only to receive a private invitation from Alex not

Alex as a rival for Sadie’s affection, but never suspected that beneath those polished manners lay something so

He turned to Noah, terror clouding his gaze, his body weighed down by dread. A confession hovered on his lips, but he couldn’t bring himself to speak

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