"You can't be serious, Camila," Jeremy’s voice crackles, a sharp edge of disbelief. "You have to trust me. I’m only trying to protect you."
His words are meant to comfort me, but they have the opposite effect. I can hear the desperation in his voice, feel the weight of the lies hanging between us.
His eyes, once warm and inviting, now feel cold—calculating, like the man he’s becoming. And I... I’m the fool for trusting him.
The walls around me close in, the suffocating pressure of decisions I don’t want to make pushing against my chest. My hands tremble as I clutch my phone, the call I’ve just received from Lucas still burning in my mind. What am I supposed to believe?
"You say you’re trying to protect me, but all I see is manipulation. Your manipulation." I let the words fall between us like daggers. "You have nothing but your own interests at heart."
Jeremy flinches, his jaw tightens, and his lips press into a thin line. I almost feel guilty, watching his pain reflected in his eyes, but I can’t afford that anymore. The lies, the betrayal—they’ve taken too much already.
"You think this is easy for me?" His voice cracks, the anger in it giving way to something else—a raw vulnerability I haven’t seen before. "You think I want to be at odds with you? That I want to hurt you? I’m trying to protect your family... protect you from them."
Them. The words hang in the air, unspoken threats hidden beneath the surface. But the deeper I look into his eyes, the less I trust him. Who is Jeremy really protecting here?
"You’ve already picked your side, haven’t you?" I don’t mean to say it like that, but it spills out, the hurt in my chest finding its way into my words. "You’ve chosen Liliana."
His face falls, like a mask slipping, and for a moment I see the boy I once knew—the one who cared, the one who made promises he couldn’t keep. But I’m not sure who he is anymore. Not with this game he's playing, not with the things I’ve overheard.
The memory of that secret conversation haunts me, lingering like smoke.
"I’m not who you think I am," Jeremy mutters, voice barely above a whisper. "Camila, just let me explain."
His words fall flat. I can’t afford to hear him out. Not anymore. My mind is a storm of confusion, swirling with the evidence, the secrets I’ve uncovered about Liliana, about Jeremy... and everything that’s slipping through my fingers.
"Explain?" I ask, my tone rising, the words sharp like glass. "How can you explain the lies? How can you explain the fact that you're planning to take everything from me? From us?"
Jeremy steps back, eyes wide, like I’ve struck him. It’s almost too easy. Too predictable. And yet... a part of me wonders if he’s really as lost as he seems—or if this is the mask of someone who’s been playing a much darker game all along.
"You don’t understand. I—"
But before he can finish, my phone buzzes again, and the screen lights up with a name I really didn’t expect to see: Lucas Carter.
"I have to go," I say, voice cold and steady, betraying none of the emotions threatening to rise in my chest. "Don’t follow me, Jeremy. It’s over."
His silence is more deafening than any of his protests. He doesn’t stop me as I walk toward the door, doesn’t call out my name. His defeat, his guilt—they’re in the air around us, too thick to ignore.
But as I step out of the room and into the cold, I wonder if I’m making a mistake. What if I’m leaving behind the last shred of hope, the last chance of reclaiming what I’ve lost?
Lucas is waiting in the lobby, his presence as commanding as always, but there’s something different in the way he watches me now. His eyes scan me as if searching for something I haven’t shown him yet.
"You’re late," he says, his voice low and controlled. But the way he says it—like he expected me to show up late—sets my nerves on edge.
He knows me too well. It’s infuriating. And yet... there’s something about his presence that makes my heart race, makes me question whether I’ve been wrong all along.
"What do you want, Lucas?" I bite the words out, sharp and hostile. "I’ve already made my choice."
He doesn’t flinch at my tone. Instead, his lips curl into a smile—one that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. It’s calculating, like he’s already three steps ahead.
"Choice?" His voice drops, thick with sarcasm. "You think you have a choice, Camila? You’re already tangled up in this mess. You think Jeremy can protect you from what's coming next?"
The coldness in his voice sends a chill down my spine. And yet, part of me believes him.
I’m not naïve enough to think this battle is over. I know there’s more coming. And as much as I hate to admit it, I know Lucas is the only one who sees the game in the same way I do.
"You can’t keep me trapped in this... web," I say, trying to sound defiant, but my voice cracks. I can’t even convince myself. "You’ll never control me."
His eyes narrow, and for a brief moment, I see something dark flash across his face—a promise, a threat. "I’m not trying to control you, Camila. I’m trying to keep you alive."
My breath catches in my throat as his words sink in. The chill between us thickens, and for the first time, I begin to wonder if he’s right.
Lucas steps forward, pulling out a folder from his jacket and sliding it across the table toward me. "I want you to look at these," he says, voice steady. "These are the real reasons you need to make your move. Before it’s too late."
"What is this?" I ask, reaching for the folder with hesitation.
I flip through the pictures inside, my breath catches in my throat. Jeremy. Liliana.
And a third person, a shadowy figure, standing behind them... one that I don’t recognize. My heart races, and my hand trembles as I reach the last photo—a photograph of my mother.
The world tilts, the room spinning as the truth begins to dawn on me. The last picture is an image of my mother—dead, her body crumpled in the same way I saw her on the night she died.
"What is this?" My voice barely rises above a whisper.
Lucas’s lips press into a thin line, and he leans in closer. "The question is, what will you do with this information? Will you keep running, or will you fight?"
I stare at him, the weight of his words crashing down on me, the realization of everything I’ve lost, and everything I still have to lose.
"This isn’t over, Camila," he says, his voice low and dangerous. "Not by a long shot."
And in that moment, I know—nothing will ever be the same.
