?Chapter XXX:


    Stillness thickened around them, the silence pressing in on both sides. Without fanfare, Noah reached for a bottle from a halfopen crate and flipped the cap off with practiced ease. He filled his own ss first and then topped off the one in ine’s hand. The quiet ssh of liquid was the only sound breaking the tension. “Not a single clue has turned up yet,” Noah remarked, his voice steady but each wordnding like a blow.


    A sudden shudder ran through ine’s body at the news. Slowly, he raised his head, his bloodshot eyes brimming with agony and defeat.


    His lips twitched as he tried to smile, but only a grimace emerged, and his voice rasped out, raw and broken. “Clue, huh… None of it matters. This is all my fault. Every bit of it.” Without warning, ine struck his own cheek, the sharp smack slicing through the hush of the riverbank.


    Guilt tumbled from his lips in a desperate rush. “I should never have let Tinae here alone. If I’d noticed sooner, if I’d just stayed with her… none of this would have happened. This is on me. Every bit of it.” Regret weighed down every word as his fists trembled at his sides.


    Where there had once been lightheartedness, only a fragile shell of his former self remained, lost and defeated. Noah stepped back, giving him space and watching quietly as his grief took its course. Comforting words would ring hollow right now—ine had to spill his pain before any healing could begin.


    Eventually, the raw sobbing slowed, reced by deep, uneven breaths. That was when Noah spoke, his voice calm as ever. “Did Tina cross anyone recently, someone who might have wanted to hurt her?” The questionnded like a jolt, snapping ine from his downward spiral.


    ine lifted his head, confusion flickering across his bloodshot eyes before recognition settled in. Out of nowhere, the memory hit him—his strange allergic reaction and the sudden fainting episode from some time back. It had passed as quickly as it came, leaving even the doctors puzzled. At the time, he had dismissed it as nothing more than identally swallowing something, never investigating further. But now he realized he had barely opened his eyes in the hospital when the news of Tina’s passing came crashing down.


    Tina’sst message had mentioned Malcolm and Nirvana, and the words still echoed in his memory. Nirvana was under Alex’s control.


    Malcolm was the same man who had gone headtohead with him at that tense shareholders’ meeting, only to receive a private invitation from Alex not long after. Just the thought of Alex sent a chill crawling up ine’s spine.


    He had always seen Alex as a rival for Sadie’s affection, but never suspected that beneath those polished mannersy something so dark. Suppose the allergy wasn’t a random mishap—suppose it was intentional. Would that mean Tina’s death was deliberate?


    Shock drained the color from ine’s face. His lips quivered, and every word froze in his throat. He turned to Noah, terror clouding his gaze, his body weighed down by dread. A confession hovered on his lips, but he couldn’t bring himself to speak it.


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    Noah, noticing the change in ine’s expression, leaned in, concern etched on his brow. “Is something wrong?” he asked.


    ine sighed, as if trying to expel the anxiety in one breath, and dragged a tired hand across his forehead. His voice was rough when he spoke. “It’s aplicated mess, but I’ll say this: there’s something seriously off about Alex.”


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