Page 29 of Claiming Pretty

I blinked at him, stunned but not entirely surprised. “Of course you did.”

Turning to Ty, I glared. “Andyou?”

He shrugged. “I found some dirt on the administrator.”

I threw my hands in the air, exasperated beyond belief. “You two areimpossible.”

Ty’s gaze burned into mine, steady and unyielding. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

Before I could snap back, Ciaran pulled me tighter against his side, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “Iam not letting her out ofmysight.”

Shaking off his arm, I slipped out of his grasp, marching across the room toward Lisa. I grabbed her arm in one hand and the folders in the other, dragging her toward my bedroom.

“Goorientyourselves,” I growled, chucking the folders at the twins before slamming the door shut in their faces and turning the lock.

Lisa’s wide eyes were still brimming with disbelief.

“Ava,” she said slowly, “what the hell is going on?”

Lisa sat on my mattress, her flowy dress crumpling beneath her as she crossed her legs, her sharp eyes already scanning my face for answers.

Taking a deep breath, I brought her up to speed on everything—everything I’d pieced together about Liath and the other missing girls we’d been investigating last term.

The connection to a shadowy secret organization. The systematic abuse they orchestrated. The horrifying lengths they went to, to silence their victims and cover their tracks.

I told Lisa everything—all the harrowing details I’d uncovered—except for the one truth I couldn’t bear to say aloud: thatIwas one of the orphaned girls they’d used.

Lisa was the closest thing I had to family outside of Ciaran and Ty, the one person who had always been my anchor.

But the thought of her knowing—of her piecing together the full extent of my past—made my stomach twist painfully. I couldn’t bear to see pity in her eyes, those deep, understanding wells of empathy that had always been her strength.

I didn’t want her to look at me differently. I didn’t want to become a victim in her eyes, someone fragile, someone broken.

So I kept that piece of myself locked away, even from her.

“They drugged their victims—theiradopted daughters—to stop them from remembering what happened to them,” I explained, my voice tight with anger. “Including Liath.”

Lisa’s mouth tightened, and I could see the storm building behind her eyes.

“Liath’s father…” she began, her voice faltering. “It’s all over the news. Someone sent video evidence to the media—proof that he was the one abusing her.”

A chill ran through me. “What?” My voice came out barely above a whisper.

Lisa nodded, her expression a mix of fury and disbelief. “He disappeared right after the story broke. No one’s seen him since.”

I felt a strange flicker of relief at the news. It was wrong, maybe, but knowing Liath’s abuser had been outed—and knowing he was gone—gave me a grim sense of justice.

And yet, deep down, I had a sinking feeling that his disappearance wasn’t a coincidence. Ciaran’s name whispered in the back of my mind.

That sounds like something he’d do.

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to focus. “Dr. Vale was working with them to cover it up, giving the girls memory suppressors and convincing them they were crazy.”

Lisa gasped, her expression darkening further.

“His house burned down,” she said, her voice soft but heavy with meaning. “They found his body in the basement. Burned beyond recognition.”

The room seemed to tilt, and my stomach churned. I knew instantly who was behind that.Ciaran.

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