Page 72 of In the Midst of Chaos

“There’s one thing Leon didn’t take into consideration,” my father spoke as he stepped forward. “When Duncan was born, Micah, Gunner, and I changed all of our wills.”

“The fail-safe,” I said because this was something I already knew.

“We never told Leon about this,” Gunner said. “He wouldn’t have understood why we did it in the first place.”

“What fail-safe?” Nate asked, and I was surprised he didn’t know.

“If anything happens to a founding member, all of their assets go to us,” I told Nate.

“Meaning that you, Huxley, Duncan, Finnie, and I get everything.”

Nate looked perplexed at the thought. He turned to look at Gunner with a questioning glare.

Guess he didn’t know just how much he meant to the old man till just now. He blinked a few times, and we all pretended to look away so he could save his pride.

“Leon wanted to kill us, leaving one sole heir so he could collect the money from all the accounts. But he didn’t know that if we’re all dead and only Finnie lives, she won’t get to see half of that money. We made it that if everyone died and only one member was left, they would get less than 10 percent of it, enough to live comfortably. At the same time, another percentage would go to all the members, and the rest would go to charities. Just in case there was foul play.”

“Fuck, well, at least he needs to keep her alive,” Riley said, sounding hopeful.

Chapter Twenty-Three

The first thing tobreak is the mind because your body is resilient. My mind was filled with dark clouds, memories, and hallucinations that I was sure I was in a state of delirium.

I think the events were playing tricks on me, and my brain gave me what I wanted to see.

I had been here for a few days. I knew it was more than two because my stomach felt full yet empty like I wanted to eat, but I would throw it all up if I did.

My father used to fast me, telling me it was to make me stronger. Never a lot, just enough so I could still function without the sense that I was starving.

In the past few days, I’d seen my father telling me it was all going to be okay. Then I’d see him again, telling me that he would see me soon.

Then I saw my mom. Which was weird because I’d almost forgotten what she looked like. How our hair was the exact same shade of brown, or we now had the same build.

At other times I saw her arguing with Leon and him begging her to go away with him, telling her he would take care of her baby.

I never had a brother, and my mom had not been pregnant when she died, so I knew then that I was losing it.

My back ached, and I knew it was the splinter from the chair. It was probably scabbing and getting infected; I just hoped that sepsis was the easier way to go.

At some point, I knew I had peed myself. My body wasn’t able to hold it in anymore.

“There’s no room for pride when you’d do anything to survive.”

My father used to tell me that all the time when we would train. Maybe that’s why I didn’t care about that now. It was the least of my worries.

I blinked, and my mind went to Nash. I could see him smiling at me when we were younger. The brightness in those eyes as he looked down at me. Running around the clearing before either of us knew what it was used for.

“Come on, Finnie, get up. I have to take you home to your daddy.”

He was eleven, and I had been eight. I had broken my arm playing with Huxley. Huxley left to get help, leaving me alone, and Nash was around and came to find me. I didn’t know how, but he half carried me all the way to the manor.

“I’m sorry for being so heavy,” I whispered because my arm hurt too much.

He kept walking, not saying anything back because he was trying to conserve his energy. Once we got to the house and my father started running toward us, he finally spoke.

“Never apologize for accidents. I’m just happy you’re okay, Finley.”

Our connection had always been there, but we had been too blind to see it. We both had duties, and we couldn’t have been blinded by puppy love. We couldn’t have afforded to fall more because there couldn’t be more to us.

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