Buried Truths
Lex had just returned to his office, the tension from the near-kiss with Muri still clinging to his skin, when his phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
But something in his gut told him to answer.
"This is cartwright," he said.
There was a pause, then a gravelly voice.
"Mr. Cartwright… I was the security officer on duty the night Muri Winters had her accident."
Lex froze. "Go on."
"There's something you need to know. The police report was altered. The footage from the hotel driveway—it was wiped."
"By who?" Lex demanded.
"I don't know yet. But someone didn't want that crash investigated."
Lex's heart pounded. "Why are you telling me this now?"
"Because someone just tried to pay me off again… to keep quiet."
The line went dead.
Lex was already on his feet, grabbing his coat. He bolted from his office without a word, eyes hard, storm building.
He needed answers.
And he knew exactly where to start looking.
---
Meanwhile… In Sky's Office
Muri entered Sky's office expecting tension.
She didn't expect fury.
Sky was pacing, holding the note Muse left behind. The moment he saw her, he held it up.
"Who the hell is Muse, Muri?"
Her mouth opened, closed. She hadn't expected this. "Why are you asking me that?"
"Because I spent the night with him," Sky said flatly. "And when I looked him up, I found a photo—with your father."
Muri's breath caught.
Sky's voice dropped. "And then I dug deeper. Really deeper."
He reached into a drawer, pulled out a file, and slid it across the desk.
"Muse Elijah Lorent. Changed his last name at sixteen. Real name?"
A pause.
"Micah Winters. Your little brother."
Muri sank into the chair, color draining from her face.
"How…?" she whispered.
Sky leaned over the desk, eyes sharp. "Why didn't you tell me you had a brother? Why is he here now? And what the hell does any of this have to do with your accident?"
Muri's hands trembled. The walls she'd built around her mind and memory cracked like old glass.
"I didn't know," she whispered. "Micah disappeared when I was fourteen. We were close. Then he was gone."
Sky sat, stunned.
Neither of them noticed Lex outside the door, just arriving—his expression dark with new secrets of his own.
And somewhere in the city…
Muse—Micah—watched from a distance.
And smiled.