Grayson’s behavior had taken a sharp turn for the worse. He wasn’t just distant anymore; he was downright cold. At school, he avoided me like the plague, refusing to even meet my gaze. On the rare occasions when he did speak to me, his words were curt and dismissive, cutting like a knife.
I couldn’t take it anymore.
I stormed into the library, where I knew he’d be. He was sitting at one of the far tables, flipping through a book with the same disinterest he now seemed to show me.
“Grayson,” I snapped, slamming my bag onto the table.
He didn’t even look up. “What do you want, Lila?”
“I want to know why you’re acting like this,” I said, my voice shaking. “Why you’re treating me like I don’t exist.”
“Maybe you should take the hint,” he said coolly, still not looking at me.
The words stung, but I wasn’t about to let him get away with this. “If you’re trying to push me away, you’re doing a damn good job.”
Finally, he looked up, his icy blue eyes meeting mine. For a moment, I thought I saw something there—pain, maybe regret—but it was gone as quickly as it came.
“Good,” he said flatly. “Maybe you’ll finally listen.”
I blinked, stunned. “Listen to what, Grayson? To your father? To the lies he’s been feeding me? You’re just like him, aren’t you?”
His jaw tightened, and he stood abruptly, his chair scraping against the floor. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Lila. You never do.”
I grabbed his arm as he tried to walk past me. “Then tell me! Tell me what’s going on, Grayson! Stop shutting me out!”
He yanked his arm away, his expression unreadable. “You want the truth? You can’t handle it.”
With that, he walked out of the library, leaving me standing there, furious and heartbroken.
Later that evening, the apartment felt suffocating. I paced the small space, replaying the argument with Grayson in my head. Every word he’d said felt like a dagger, and the worst part was, I still didn’t understand why he was doing this.
A knock at the door startled me, pulling me out of my thoughts. My stomach twisted. No one had visited since Aiden’s grocery run.
I hesitated, my heart racing as I approached the door. Peeking through the peephole, my breath caught.
It was Victor.
My hands trembled as I unlocked the door and opened it just a crack. “What do you want?” I asked, my voice sharper than I intended.
He smiled, but there was nothing kind about it. “May I come in?”
“No,” I said firmly, trying to close the door.
Victor moved faster than I could react, shoving the door open and stepping inside.
“Victor, get out,” I said, backing away from him.
He closed the door behind him, locking it with a deliberate click. “We need to talk, Lila.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” I said, my voice shaking. “Get out.”
He ignored me, taking a step closer. “You’ve been causing a lot of trouble, you know. Digging where you don’t belong, asking questions you shouldn’t be asking.”
“Is that why you tried to kill me?” I shot back, my fear giving way to anger.
Victor tilted his head, his smile growing colder. “If I wanted you dead, Lila, you’d be dead. The fire was a warning. Clearly, you didn’t take it seriously.”
My back hit the wall, and I realized I had nowhere to go. “What do you want from me?”
“I want you to leave,” he said, his voice dropping to a menacing whisper. “Disappear. Forget about my sons, forget about Evelyn, and forget about me.”
“Why?” I demanded. “What are you so afraid of?”
Victor’s smile vanished, and in an instant, his hand shot out, wrapping around my throat.
I gasped, clawing at his hand as he tightened his grip. “Stop—”
“You’re meddling in things you don’t understand,” he hissed, his face inches from mine. “Grayson isn’t who you think he is. None of them are.”
Tears streamed down my face as I struggled to breathe. My vision blurred, and the room began to spin.
“Remember this, Lila,” Victor said, his voice calm and terrifying. “The truth won’t set you free. It’ll destroy you.”
Just as I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, he released me, letting me collapse to the floor in a coughing, gasping heap.
Victor straightened his jacket, looking down at me with disdain. “Leave town, Lila. While you still can.”