Darien looked stunned when he heard that.

He glanced at Keira, confused, and asked, "Nine fifty-five? I don't really get what you mean…"

Keira immediately pressed, "I'm asking why you called her to come out at exactly 9:55!"

Darien seemed even more confused. "Did I? I didn't even notice."

He pulled out his phone, checked his call log, and sure enough—it showed he had made the call at 9:55.

Looking baffled, he muttered, "I just called randomly. I had no idea what time it was."

His expression was sincere, not like someone trying to lie.

Still, Keira glanced over at Erin, just to be sure.

"What are you looking at me for?" Erin asked, raising an eyebrow.

Keira replied, "Check if he's been hypnotized."

"Oh," Erin said, stepping closer to check Darien's pupils. After a quick look, she shook her head. "Nope, nothing."

"Then what's

trail had

the room and handed Keira his phone. It turned out that during

report was incredibly detailed—it even listed the kindergarten

Darien seemed like an ordinary person, a kid from a small rural town who

got to college, he was exposed to a world he'd never seen before and was dazzled

set his sights on

his life to save her" story? All

had been no heroic

staged act by him

investigation even uncovered conversations between Darien and his buddies, detailing how he had gradually manipulated Ellie, pushing

realized how forgiving she was, he began

which made Darien feel superior—something he didn't experience with Ellie. He

a day, living

never noticed—until the

in his past that indicated anything

was really

and asked, "How did the South family

her chin thoughtfully before responding, "You keep assuming the South family is behind this. But have you ever considered the possibility that Ellie'd been hypnotized to follow Darien's lead? Maybe this is someone targeting the Cobb family—someone out to destroy them—and it has nothing to do with the South family. Maybe the real enemy is just toying with Ellie and planning to kill her… and it just so happened that the timing

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