Chapter 7: What Might be Under the Chalk Dust.

Liam sat in his classroom, watching his pupils work. He had decided to give them a quick assessment based on the lessons they'd covered over the past few weeks. It was just fifteen minutes to break. His back and butt ached from sitting too long, so he stood up and began strolling between the rows of students seated in the room. Those who had been 'transacting' quickly stopped. They couldn't afford to get caught by him. He was well aware of their little schemes but kept quiet—solely because they stopped at the sight of him. That alone was respect, and he loved it.

Liam was most people's favorite in the school—both pupils and staff. He was handsome, a good listener, and always jovial. He was also very generous—almost generous to a fault. Who wouldn't like him? And even if someone didn't, they'd keep their hatred to themselves; say it out loud, and you'd get smacked by someone who did like him.

Finally, the bell rang. Needless to say, all the pupils stood, walked to the front desk, and submitted their work. They were very orderly. Normally, it should've been chaotic—but it wasn't. They'd done this a million times. They knew what they had to do. And as they submitted, they returned to their seats.

Damn, I love these kids, Liam thought. He was impressed by their maturity. He had taught them well.

"Alright... we can move out now!" Liam shouted about ten seconds after they'd sat down.

They all rose almost at the same time, showcasing their young, incomplete white teeth. He opened his palm, and they each gave him their daily-break high five as they walked out of the class. As troublesome as they might be sometimes, they really made him happy. He genuinely loved them.

As he settled behind his desk, his mind drifted to Millie. She had strangely been on his mind ever since that day at the park. Not that he didn't think about her regularly—he did—it's just that this time, it was different. Stronger. Or maybe it was just a distraction, something to keep his mind off the intense urge to wonder if his brother was truly Victor Vex's murderer.

He was certain that if he kept dwelling on it, he'd eventually do something crazy. Like track the killer down himself—which, truthfully, he was already considering.

Damn. I hope that little punk is safe. He thought.

Again, he found himself thinking about Ethan. And the Vex case. To stop his mind from spiraling, he began imagining a scene where he finally told Millie how he felt about her. He smiled faintly at the image—until a knock on the classroom door pulled him out of his daydream.

He frowned slightly—nearly frustrated. No one's even supposed to be here, he thought, irritated.

He turned to see who had entered—and saw Millie.

In a single moment, he lost his composure.

But before she could notice, he pulled himself together again. Just like that, the irritation vanished. He sat upright, stroked his neatly growing beard, and gave her his most enchanting smile.

Millie stepped lightly into the classroom, her eyes scanning the walls as if taking in everything for the first time—even though she walked this corridor every day.

Liam gave her a teasing smile. "If this is a pop quiz, I'm not prepared."

Millie chuckled, stepping closer. "Relax, Professor Charming. I was just checking in. Your class is always so… peaceful."

Liam leaned back against his desk. "That's because I teach with love, discipline, and the threat of confiscating snacks."

She laughed again, her arms folding loosely across her chest. "Seriously though, how do you do it? These kids adore you."

He shrugged, pretending to be modest. "I bribe them with jokes and high-fives. Works every time."

A short silence fell between them—not awkward, just charged. Her gaze held his a moment too long.

Then Millie tilted her head. "You've seemed… off lately. Everything alright?"

Liam hesitated, then smiled it away. "Just… thinking a lot. Life, you know?"

"Yeah," she said softly. "I get it. But, that's not you."

They stood like that for a beat too long—two people from separate wars, each holding back the weight of what they couldn't say... What they felt.

Millie looked away first. "Alright, I better go before I start liking this classroom too much."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Liam replied, voice low and teasing.

She turned at the door, smiled back. "Maybe it's dangerous."

"Lunch?" He asked before she left.

"Took you long enough." Her bright smile betraying her feigned irritation.

---

The moon cast soft blue shadows through the blinds as Millie paced her one-bedroom apartment. A laptop glowed on the dining table, its encrypted screen flickering. She tapped her earpiece.

"Roberts, status?" came the voice—crisp, clipped, and emotionless. Chief Inspector Graham, head of the CID's covert intel division.

"Where's Ridge?" She need not ask who she was talking to because she knew who he was by the voice.

"Busy. You're reporting to me today." Graham nearly snapped at her.

She reported. "Vex has been dead, but the trail's cold. Whoever did it covered their tracks well. No unusual chatter, no links traced. Whoever it is—they're good. Ghost-level."

The silence on the other end stretched. Then, Graham spoke again. "You said you're embedded with the schoolteacher… Liam Thompson."

Millie's pulse spiked for a moment. "Yes, sir. Still no confirmation about him being a soldier—oe anything more at the least. Seems clean. Works hard. Kids adore him."

"Appearances lie," Graham said flatly. "Especially when bloodlines are involved."

She froze. "Sir?"

"We dug deeper," he continued. "That name—Thompson—came up again. He is the living child of a special ops team leader. He has a tattoo. A crescent moon on his left shoulder. Same as David Thompson's old special ops team. And apparently, Vex did David really bad."

Millie's breath caught. David Thompson? She knew she had heard the name from somewhere.

Millie swallowed hard. "Permission to confront?"

"Denied," Graham barked. "Stay in place. Observe. And if Liam's involved—we'll deal with that later."

The call ended. Millie stared at her screen in silence, heart thudding.

Her half-brother might be related to the man she likes.

And the man she was falling for…

She was greatly confused.