Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 77354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77354 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Trying to put off seeing him, I head to the bathroom first. I collect all the used towels and head back out into the corridor to stuff them in my linen sack. For a moment, I can breathe. Not for long. I head back to the bathroom with my cleaning bucket and start on the sink.
Something’s off. I can’t put my finger on it. And then I realize. His toiletries have gone.
I spin around, trying to spot them somewhere, but there’s nothing. Not even his brown leather washbag. I back out of the bathroom and head to the dressing room, pulling the doors open.
Nothing.
No suit jackets. No shirts. No shoes.
It’s all gone.
I run into the bedroom. Bennett never left personal items in the room, but I search for something, anything—a phone charger, a computer mouse. But there’s no doubt about it: he’s checked out.
Where’s he gone?
Somewhere he can hide from me. My heart feels so heavy, I can barely breathe from the weight of it.
That’s it. No discussion. No goodbye. We’re just done.
I go through the motions in a daze, all the while replaying our last conversation with tiny variations—things I could have said, maybe should have said, that might have resulted in a different outcome. But for all my mental gymnastics, I don’t see how things wouldn’t have ended just like this. We started as we began, with Bennett thinking I’m something I’m not.
After the bathroom, I move through the suite, trying not to imagine him sitting on the sofa or at the desk. In the bed.
As I pull off the pillowcases, his scent fills my lungs. It all feels so unfair. I’m angry that he couldn’t just talk it out with me. Why couldn’t he see that I was trying to protect him? It must be awful to know there are so few people in the world you can trust, and then have one of the few in your inner sanctum betray you.
I get it. I’ve been there. But why couldn’t he let me be there for him?
After making the bed, I start dusting, wiping any sign of Bennett from every surface.
That’s when I see it. The stone I wrangled from Bennett’s hand that day at the lake. The one I asked him to keep safe.
He left it.
My knees weaken and I take a seat on the bed, even though I’ve just made it, because I’ll fall to the floor if I don’t. The stone feels smooth in my hand, and warm like it’s been in the sun all day.
He must have known I’d find it.
He wanted to rid himself of every last memory of me, like I’m some kind of disease to be purged from his system.
I guess I should be grateful for the closure.
I can go back to London in a few weeks with no loose ends or regrets. There’s nothing to wonder “what if” about.
Even though I didn’t expect things to end this way, they were always going to end. We were never going to ride off into the sunset together. And that’s why I can’t understand why it feels like my body is shutting down. My chest aches and my legs aren’t strong enough to hold me.
How can I feel so much for someone who trusts me so little?
It hurts at the moment, but hopefully it will pass quickly.
It doesn’t stop me slipping the stone into my pocket.
He might not want to relive the memories of our time together, but if memories are all we have, I’ll take every last one.
THIRTY
Bennett
Monday night has always been the social highlight of the week. I’m not anyone but myself on those evenings.
Not a boss.
Not a billionaire.
Not a movie star’s son.
Tonight feels very different, in no small part because I’m carrying two devices that are essentially going to spy on my friends. It doesn’t feel good. The idea that at the end of this evening, I’ll know for certain whether one of them is trying to attack me, feels worse.
We’re back at Worth’s place tonight. The venue was discussed on the group chat, but I’m not sure why we ended up here. I just skipped to the end.
There’s one bright spot in the evening—Nadia’s not going to be here. That piece of information caught my attention on the chat.
Surprisingly, Leo answers the door, and I take a step down in shock.
I hadn’t put my game face on.
“Wow, you look pissed,” Leo says. “What’s the matter?”
I shrug. “Tired. What’s your excuse for looking like that?” I ask as I push past him.
Leo chuckles. He’s always in a good mood. Is it all an act? Does he hate me? If he needed money, why didn’t he just ask? Any of the five of us would have done anything for him.
I’m trying to keep an open mind, but I’ve seen the data. I made Aarvi take me through it this week and the evidence against Leo is compelling. I just want to see it all for myself.