"The next time you hit me in my own house," I say evenly, "be rest assured I’m going to fuck you up."

He doesn’t react, doesn’t apologize either.

Just quietly takes a sip of the whiskey like we’re discussing business instead of the fact that he rearranged my face downstairs.

Honestly, that almost pisses me off more.

"You’re lucky Elaine was there," I mutter.

Lucas lowers the glass finally and i lean back slightly in my chair.

"You put a fucking baby in her."

"I know."

"No," he says quietly. "I don’t think you do."

Something sharp flickers through me briefly.

"She’s my wife."

"She’s my sister."

"I’m well aware."

Lucas’s jaw tightens.

"You don’t get to make decisions like that for her."

Silence settles heavily in the room as j grip the glass tighter for a second before finally sighing and tossing the whiskey back in one rough swallow.

The burn barely even registers.

"I know," I say quieter this time.

And the thing is...I mean it now. I fucked up, I know I did.

Lucas watches me carefully like he’s trying to decide whether the regret is genuine.

Eventually, he drinks again before asking:

"So why did you do it?"

I stare at the desk briefly. Then answer honestly.

"Because I am selfish."

Lucas scoffs softly.

"A baby isn’t a leash."

"I know that."

"Clearly not."

My expression hardens slightly.

"I’m not proud of it."

Another silence follows. Then finally Lucas leans back slightly in his chair.

"Well," he says dryly. "Congratulations. You managed to get my terrifyingly stubborn sister pregnant."

Despite everything, the corner of my mouth twitches faintly.

"She is terrifying."

"She gets that from me."

"That’s unfortunate for society."

That almost earns a smile out of him. The tension eases slightly after that, only slightly.

I pour myself another whiskey before leaning back into my chair again.

"There’s another reason I wanted to talk to you."

Lucas notices the shift in my tone immediately, his expression sharpening.

"What?"

I reach toward one of the folders sitting on my desk and toss it lightly toward him.

"I think I finally have a lead."

He stills

"A lead on what?"

I meet his eyes directly.

"What happened years ago."

"With Aria?"

The moment he says her name, something tight pulls in my chest. Even after all these years.

I nod slowly.

"Yes."

Lucas studies me carefully for a second before leaning back slightly in his chair.

"I have some leads too," he says quietly. "On all the attacks. Especially the recent one."

Immediately my attention sharpens.

"What kind of leads?"

He rotates the whiskey glass slowly between his fingers before answering.

"I think it’s all connected to one person."

I frown.

"One person?"

Lucas nods once.

"Maybe not directly. Maybe they had help here and there." His expression hardens slightly. "But I think one person orchestrated all of this."

I stare at him.

"All of it?"

"The poisoning."

"Maya," I mutter darkly.

"Yes."

My jaw tightens instantly.

Lucas continues.

"Aaron escaping, the attacks, th framing."

He pauses briefly.

"And what happened years ago with Aria."

Silence settles heavily between us, because if he’s right...it means somebody has spent years slowly destroying everything around me piece by piece. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Fuck," I mutter quietly.

Lucas nods grimly.

"That’s exactly what I said."

I lean back in my chair slowly trying to process the sheer insanity of what he’s suggesting.

"You think one person single-handedly orchestrated all this?" I ask finally. "For this long?"

"Yes....i’m not entirely sure...my sources are still working on it but I have a suspect at least."

The certainty in his voice unsettles me, I stare at him harder now.

"Do you have a name?"

A long pause follows.

Then finally:

"Yes."

My pulse immediately spikes.

Lucas reaches into his pocket slowly.

"I have a name," he says quietly. "And a picture too." Every muscle in my body tightens instantly.

"My sources tracked the Maya poisoning first," he continues. "Then after Elaine asked me to look into what happened at the site years ago with Aria..."

His expression darkens.

"Something is definitely not right."

I lean forward immediately.

"Show me."

Lucas pulls out his phone but right as he unlocks it, his hand clips the whiskey glass sitting too close to the edge of the desk.

"Shit."

The glass tips over instantly, amber liquid spills everywhere across the desk.

"Fuck," Lucas mutters quickly while standing.

I curse under my breath too and immediately grab several files before the whiskey reaches them.

Papers scatter everywhere as Lucas snatches up another stack quickly while I drag important documents out of the spreading mess.

"Jesus Christ," I mutter.

"At least it missed the laptop."

"Barely."

The strong smell of whiskey fills the room while we hurriedly clear the desk. A few important papers got soaked anyway.

Fantastic.

Lucas grabs a towel from the side cabinet and tosses it toward me while wiping his own hands dry.

"You keep too much shit on your desk."

"I was busy earlier."

"That sounds like a personal problem."

I glare at him.

He ignores me completely.

Once the mess is mostly handled, I sit back down slowly while my side throbs again in protest.

Lucas pockets his phone again carefully.

"You still haven’t shown me the picture," I point out.

"I know."

"But?"

He hesitates. That immediately puts me on edge.

"On a second thought I want to confirm something first."

"What?"

Lucas studies me carefully for a second before answering.

"The site."

My brows pull together

"What about it?"

"My incident with Aria happened there....well you caught us there."

"Yes."

"And after that?"

I already know where he’s going with this.

"It was shut down."

"Completely?"

I nod slowly. Lucas’s expression turns thoughtful.

"Then we should go there."

I stare at him for a second before nodding once.

"I was thinking the same thing."

His brows rise slightly.

"There might still be something there," I continue. "Records, old footage, files."

"After all these years?"

"Maybe."

Lucas looks unconvinced.

Honestly? Fair.

Still, something in my gut twists sharply now.

Because if there’s even the slightest chance answers are sitting there...i need to see for myself.