Jace was staring out the window like me, his lips pressed together. “Yeah,” he muttered.


    It was just one word, but it was all I needed. He knew.


    I turned to him. “So you knew? Then why the whole act? Why bother with all this?”


    Jace’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t say anything.


    As the police car drove past us, Herman gave a tiny wave in my direction.


    We were in our car with tinted windows, so there’s no way he could’ve seen me….but then that


    wave. It was like he knew exactly where I was, exactly who was sitting here.


    So, this whole thing was under his control the whole time? Yet, he still let himself fall into Hayden’s


    trap


    That’s when it hit me. Herman’s capture? That wasn’t the end. It was just the start of whatever mess


    wasing next.


    A cold shiver ran down my spine as I remembered what he’d said. “Jace, Herman told me there’s


    someone else pulling the strings.”


    *Hm? Jace nced at me, clearly waiting for me to exin more, but I just pressed my lips


    together. Herman hadn’t said who the mastermind was.


    *Hernan knows how to mess with your head, Jace added after a long pause, like he was trying to


    warn me not to get caught up in Hernan’s games.


    I wasn’t dumb enough to trust Hernan, but there was something about what he said that felt way too


    important to just ignore.


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    Still, without any clue who this other person could be, I had nothing to work with.


    One by one, the police cars pulled away, and it hit me- hadn’t seen Hayden. Or maybe I had, but I’d


    been too caught up in my own head to notice.


    “Where are Hayden and Steve?” I asked.


    Jace gave me a quick look. “They went to the station.”


    I went quiet, letting Jace drive me away. The road stretched on, endless, like it was mocking how


    far away we were from figuring this out. I felt drained and shut my eyes.


    Half asleep, I heard Jace’s phone ring. “Yeah, we’re almost there… alright, I’ll be there soon.”


    He went quiet after that, and I shifted in my seat, trying to getfortable.


    Then, out of nowhere, Jace spoke up. “Rea,” he said, “If Hayden broke up with you ‘cause he had


    his reasons… would you forgive him?”


    My eyelids fluttered but I kept them shut. I didn’t answer right away.


    He didn’t push me. I guess he figured silence was a pretty clear answer.


    “I wouldn’t want him back,” I finally said, dragging out the words.


    125 BONUS


    Jace seemed caught off guard. He even hit the gas a tle harder, making the


    car jerk forward.


    I nced over at him, then added, “If he’d just ended things with me and actually had a good


    reason, yeah, I could get it. I could forgive him. But he…”


    The image of Hayden and Yara together shed in my mind.


    “But he went and got involved with someone else.” I said it out loud this time, opening my eyes and


    meeting Jace’s gaze, watching for his reaction.


    His expression went all stiff.


    I


    And maybe, just maybe, Jace was finally getting why I had to let him go.


    On this topic, Jace really had no ground to stand on. He didn’t say another word.


    When the car finally stopped, I kept my eyes shut, and I guess Jace thought I was asleep. “Rea,


    we’re here. Wake up.”


    I cracked my eyes open, and he repeated, “We’re here.


    I sat up and reached for the door handle, but Jace had already grabbed his phone. “I’ll get it.”


    My eyes caught the screen, and I saw it was still connected to an active call.


    “Jace,” I said, just enough to get his attention.


    He blinked, looked at me confused, then followed my gaze to the phone in his hand. The realization


    hit, and his eyes widened a little before he put the phone to his ear. “Hayden, we’re here. You can


    hang up


    now.”