I sit on the edge of my bed, my fingers gripping my phone so tightly my knuckles turn white. The city outside my window hums with life, but inside this room, everything is still. Too still.
Michael's words coil around my mind like smoke, suffocating me.
"You've been looking at this all wrong. You keep asking if Alex was in on it. Maybe you should be asking when he found out."
"By the time he did, it was already too late."
My stomach churns. If Michael is telling the truth, if Alex really didn't know… then what the hell has he been fighting for all this time? And why—why did he let Victoria control everything?
I press my palms against my temples, squeezing my eyes shut. Think, Emma. Think.
I need a second opinion. Someone who isn't tangled up in this mess.
I grab my phone and dial Lydia.
She answers on the third ring, her voice laced with exhaustion. "Emma, it's late."