Then, he felt a slow warmth bloom in his chest.

The weight in his heart eased—just a little—because her words told him what he hadn’t dared to hope. She still cared.

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth before he could stop it.

“I’m being serious, you know.” Hadley frowned, confused by the lack of seriousness on his expression.

“I know,” he replied, hastily wiping the grin off his face. “I’ll listen to you. Of course I will. But now’s just… not the right time. We need to tread carefully.”

“Carefully?” she echoed, her brow furrowing with alarm. “What else is there to plan?”

“Don’t panic,” he said quickly, trying to soothe her. “I’m only saying this because I think my siblings might be growing suspicious.”

That stopped Hadley cold. She stared at him, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Zane,” Eric said quietly.

Hadley’s thoughts spiraled. Zane? What did this have to do with him?

When it came to things like this, Hadley lacked the sharp instinct that Eric had — honed from a lifetime of navigating the treacherous waters of wealthy family feuds. But she was smart, and with Eric’s reminder, everything soon clicked into place.

“You think… it was your siblings who went after him?” she asked slowly.

Eric chuckled and gave her a playful thumbs-up. “Look at you. Sharp as ever.”

She gave him a withering glare. “Can you not joke right now?”

“Alright, alright,” he said, sobering. “Listen. I’ve been turning this over in my head for a while.”

Since he wasn’t behind it, could it be Ferris?

“Earlier, my father came to see me. But when I asked him, he swore it wasn’t him.” Eric paused. “And honestly? As terrible as he is, he’s not the type to deny something he’s done like that. If he did it, he’d own it.” He exhaled slowly. That left one possibility—his siblings.

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“Someone among them has started putting things together,” Eric whispered.

Although he tried to keep everything under wraps, there were always cracks. No matter how carefully Eric had tried to hide his illness, the signs had been there—his frequent hospital visits for one.

“So…” Hadley’s voice trembled, her brows drawn tight with realization. “They arranged for someone to attack Zane… just to make me turn on you. To provoke you into reacting.”

If that was their goal, then Eric’s condition would be exposed—just as they’d planned.

Eric gave a small nod. “Yeah. That’s what it looks like.”

Hadley closed her eyes, her face paling as shame swept over her. “This is my fault. I should’ve seen through it. I was so blind…”

Her body felt hollow, the regret sudden and all-consuming.

Her voice cracked, and her eyes filled. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you… I was just—God, I was so foolish…”

“Hey, no,” Eric said gently, reaching for her hands. They were icy to the touch.

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