Bonds

Chapter 68

-Maya’s POV-

Sometimes I think I make very bad decisions. An example was looking into that compartment, another would be taking the files and running. I don’t exactly known what I was thinking. Actually, I wasn’t. I just needed to understand. He was going to know they were gone but somehow I would deal with the fallout later.

I hadn’t thought.

I just took them and ran. There was no way. My head was spiraling and I was seconds away from having a breakdown..

How?

Why?

Different questions were running through my head. At least I managed to hand Ms. Edwards something we could work on later before bolting out. She had given me so many passes and there were zero plans on doing anything to get on her wrong side. Now, I just needed answers.

The silence in Natalia’s office stretched, thick and suffocating. She sat opposite me, glued to the photos spread on the coffee table. Her expression mirrored the look of pure, unadulterated horror that had contorted my face moments ago when I first saw them.

“Say something.” I finally choked out, my voice hoarse. She hadn’t moved, her eyes still fixed on the incriminating pictures. This was why she was my best friend. She could read me like a well–worn book, decipher the tangled mess of confusion churning in my head. But this time, even she didn’t have the answers.

Slowly, Natalia lifted her gaze, meeting mine. “I know you,” she started, her voice hesitant. “Well enough to know you wouldn’t do this. But… how? It looks so…” she trailed off, searching for the right word.

“Real?” I supplied, my voice a ragged rasp. Real. That was the word. Those pictures looked terrifyingly real, depicting a scene that never happened, a betrayal I would never commit. A horrible truth began to dawn – a horrifying connection between seemingly unrelated events.

“The trashed house,” I whispered, the pieces clicking into place. “Adrian’s house. It was trashed when I went there after Alex… after Alex rejected me.” The memory hit me like a physical blow. The sudden shift in Alex’s behavior, the cold rejection that had left me reeling–it all made a twisted kind of sense.

Before I could fully process the revelation, the words tumbled out, spilling from my lips like a dam bursting, “Oh my god,” I breathed, the

words a desperate plea for someone, anyone, to understand. “He thinks I cheated. He thinks I cheated on him with

small office, bouncing off the walls and amplifying the tremor in my voice. Tears pricked at my eyes, blurring

chaos. “It’s okay. We’ll figure this out. There has to be some explanation.

warming the cold dread that had gripped my heart. I clung to

wouldn’t. I couldn’t. But how do we he never asked me. Never gave me a chance to explain myself.

10:24 Sat, 22 Jun

Chapter 68

there in the oppressive silence, the weight of the situation pressing down on us. Ideas bounced around in my head, hall–formed and desperate, but none of them felt substantial enough to combat the fabricated reality staring back at

silence her voice low and

at it.”

her brow, frustration etching lines onto

he even try to talk to you, find out if there was

I mumbled, dread creeping into my voice. “He has cameras in that place.

the hell did this.” Her eyes narrowed, a

Natalia’s loyalty and fierce protectiveness were a source of comfort. But

my arm. “We’ll figure this out. We just need to think logically. How did these

words echoed

Who would benefit?

illogical. He got his life torm apart and he ended up in jail. The painful thought crossed my mind. Alex had thrown their friendship

prove I’m innocent?” I

table and squeezed my hand tightly. “We will prove you’re innocent,” she said

should go put them back?” I blurted out, the thought of the missing files adding another layer

not! Let him see that you took them. What’s the worst he

acting like a

photo again, scrutinizing it with narrowed eyes. “Do you recognize this location? Where