THE DEVIL YOU LOVED

Paris -Theo Carter's Loft, 3:33 p.m.

Theo opened the door in a black linen shirt, sleeves rolled, smile disarming. His loft smelled like wood polish, rain, and ruin.

Amira didn't smile back. She stepped in like a storm gathering its strength.

"No champagne this time?" she asked.

"You didn't come to toast," he replied, voice calm but wary. "You came to accuse."

"I came for answers."

The door clicked shut behind her. Her heart thudded louder than the lock.

Minutes Later -Living Room

The silence between them was thick, waiting to break. She dropped the sketchbook on the table between them. The one filled with Celeste's haunted drawings.

Theo looked down at it, eyes unreadable. "She always drew like that when she felt something too big to say out loud."

"You mean fear?" Amira snapped.

He flinched.

Amira took a breath, steady but tight. "She loved you. And you fed on it. Then ghosted her when she became inconvenient."

"It wasn't like that."

"She was seventeen."

"I know."

The words hung between them like a dropped blade.

Theo sat slowly. "You think I wanted her to die?"

Amira didn't move. "I think you wanted her silent. And that's almost the same thing."

Flashback - Theo's Memory (Brief Insert)

Celeste, with ink-stained fingers, whispering:

"They'll never let us be together. But if we disappear, maybe we can start over."

And if God help him considered it.

Back to Present

"I tried to protect her," Theo said. "From Zion. From my father. From herself."

"No," Amira whispered. "You protected yourself."

He leaned forward, hands clasped like prayer. "You don't understand what being a Carter means. Everything we touch either shines or shatters."

"I'm not scared of your name," she said.

"You should be."

Amira reached into her bag, pulled out a small torn page, the note she'd found in the old art building. She dropped it in front of him.

His face drained of color.

"She knows too much. I'll handle it."

"That's your handwriting, Theo."

He stood, slow and cold. "She was spiraling. I didn't mean"

"You didn't stop it," Amira cut in. "And now you're spiraling too."

She turned to go.

"I loved her," he said suddenly. "Even when I knew I shouldn't."

Amira paused at the door, her voice barely more than a breath.

"Then you should've loved her enough to fight for her."

Later That Night - Amira's Apartment

Rosalie's eyes were wide. "He admitted it?"

"Not directly," Amira said. "But enough to know he's more scared of what Zion might reveal than what I already know."

She sat down, looking at the journal.

"Which means Zion's secrets might be worse."

Rosalie leaned closer. "What now?"

Amira's eyes glinted. "Now? I take this to the only man who still thinks he has control."