Nina slowly lowered the phone back onto the nightstand. What the hell was going on?
CHAPTER 45
The car sped through the streets. Nina sat in the back, her jacket zipped up to her throat.
Before leaving, she hadn’t even properly looked at herself in the mirror—she’d simply washed her face, ran a brush through her hair, and pulled on the first things she could find: a gray turtleneck and a jacket she’d bought a few seasons back. There was so much turmoil inside her that thinking about her appearance felt absurd.
Her phone rang the entire way.
At first it was unknown numbers. Then relatives, people her father had kept in touch with, though after his death they hadn't seen each other at all. Even Stella called once.
Nina stared at the screen without looking away. She didn’t answer, just as she’d promised Jasper. She only squeezed the phone tighter and tighter, her knuckles turning white.
When Frank’sname flashed across the screen for the third time, a cold shiver crawled down her spine. Then she simply turned the phone off. To hell with it. She didn’t want to hear a single word. Not now.
She was shaking.
Something had happened.
Something serious.
Jasper wouldn’t have said“Don’t answer anyone”for no reason. Wouldn’t have pulled her out of the house unless it mattered.
The car left the city limits and ten minutes later stopped in front of the gates of a large property.
Nina didn’t wait for the driver to open the door. She pushed it open herself and all but jumped onto the gravel path without even glancing around. Her heart pounded like that of a cornered animal. Her palms were slick, her throat dry.
A house she didn’t recognizewas standing before her.
Large. Modern. With dark floor-to-ceiling windows, sharp clean lines, and a terrace stretching off to the side. Stonework, neatly trimmed shrubs, and behind the house was a small patch of woods. It was beautiful. Quiet.
On any other day she might’ve admired it. She might’ve paused to take in the fresh country air, notice the way sunlight reflected off the glass or how the branches swayed in the breeze. But not today.
Today she saw only the massive black front door.
It swung open the moment she reached the top of the steps. Jasper had clearly been watching for her.
“Come in,” he said quietly.
His voice sounded strange. So did his eyes. What had happened in the short time she’d been asleep?
Nina froze for a second, then quickly stepped inside. Fear clamped down on her throat.
Jasper shut the door behind her, turned—leaving the two of them alone in the silence of the wide foyer.
“What happened?” Nina breathed.“Jasper, just tell me. I can’t take this waiting.”
“Don’t worry,” he answered tiredly.“We cleaned everything up. Headlines, search results, everything’s gone. No one’s going to find anything now. But Lynn already saw it,” he added, his voice dull.
Nina didn’t understand any of it. What was he talking about? Why couldn’t he just explain?
“Saw… what?” she whispered. Her voice snapped like a tightened string.
“That you’re her mother,” Jasper said, letting out a heavy breath.
The world collapsed into a single point.
Nina instinctively stepped back, hitting the wall, gripping it with her fingers just to stay upright. Everything inside her caved in as if the floor had dropped away. Breathing became impossible.
