I shook my head, “Who the father is… well, that’s her business. If you’re that curious, why don’t you


    just ask her yourself?”


    Demi snorted. “Yeah, right. I don’t have time for that drama. I’d rather spend my free moments


    swooni over Mr. Hart.”


    Hearing Hayden’s name made me nce at the clock. He still wasn’t back. Casually, I asked, “So,


    are y calling me after work now? Or sneaking off to the restroom again to avoid it?”


    “Keira! What do you take me for? I’m not that kind of person!” Demi protested. “Besides, Mr. Hart’s


    beer surprisingly chilltely–he let us off early again today.


    “Oh, really? How long ago?”


    “Like, half an hour. I’m already home, chilling on the couch.


    As Demi kept talking, I did the math on Hayden’smute. He should’ve been back by now.


    But his ce was still dead quiet. Maybe he got held up.


    “You guys are finishing work this early and not doing any OT? Are you sure the project’s gonna be


    done c time?” I asked.


    There was a pause, then I heard what sounded like Demi swallowing, probably drinking water or


    munchir on something. “Mr. Hart said it would be.”


    “And you believe him? Don’t let him fool you,” I warned. “If it doesn’t get done by the deadline,


    you’re the one who’ll get penalized. They’ll dock your bonus, not his.”


    Demi coughed twice. “I think we’ll be fine. We’re already testing in Section D, and everything’s


    running smooth–no new issues so far. Honestly, it’s just been about checking things off the list


    every day.”


    Then she made that little clicking sound with her tongue. “It’s so weird, though. When you were still


    around, there were always issues popping up.


    “Like, every other night, you’d be rushing to Mr. Hart’s hotel room to fix something. But ever since


    you left, everything’s been smooth sailing.


    “Now I


    I’m just over here, praying something goes wrong so I can… you know…. hehehe.” She was


    naughty daydreams again.


    totally drition in


    I cut her off before she could spiral too far. “Maybe I’m just a bad omen, Mr. Hart and I never


    clicked, so we had constant issues. But now that I’m out of the picture, everything’s perfect.”


    “Hmph,” Demi sounded unconvinced. “You’re not fooling me. I think there’s something going on


    between you two. Come on, be real–did you and Mr. Hart have a little… secret arrangement?”


    Thinking of our fake rtionship, I folt a twinge of guilt but quickly shut it down. “You’re talking


    nonsense.”


    “Don’t hide it from me! Honestly, if something did happen between you and Mr. Hart, I’d totally


    support it,” Demi said, way too excited about the idea


    “Nothing happened, so stop making things up,” I shot back.


    “Well, Mr. Hart’s moved out of the hotel,” Demi said, her voice all secretive. “Word is, he rented a


    ce.”


    I yed dumb. “Oh, really?”


    “Yeah, and get this–he’s sticking around Seavora for a while. Apparently, he’s looking into his


    father’s death.” Demi’s voice dropped. “Do you know anything about that?”


    I honestly didn’t. When Hayden mentioned getting a ce, I had no idea it was because of his


    father’s ident.


    This content belongs to N?/velDra/ma.Org .


    “I heard he died in a car crash.”


    I’d lost my parents the same way. Just hearing about Hayden’s situation made my chest tighten.


    I made up some excuse to end the call. After I hung up, I just sat there, staring at the family photo


    on the wall. It was from years ago–me and my parents, all smiling like nothing could ever go wrong.


    But then a thought crept in, one I hadn’t really let myself consider before.


    Was my parents‘ ident really just that–an ident?


    I sat there, lost in my thoughts, until I realized it was almost seven. Still no sound from across the


    hall. A little worried, I called Hayden, but he didn’t answer.


    Was he caught up with something? Or had he bailed on our ns?


    Not wanting to wait around, I grabbed the gift I’d wrapped and decided to head to the Johnston’s on


    my own. But as I stepped out of my apartment unit, I noticed Hayden’s door was slightly open.


    He was home?


    How’d I miss himing back?


    My curiosity got the better of me. I walked over and gently pushed the door open. “Hay-” The rest of


    his name stuck in my throat as I froze,pletely stunned by what I saw inside.


    L