Page 105 of Second Sin

Why the hell would she still be here?

My jaw clenches. Something twists in my chest. But I’m too far gone to feel it right.

Numb.

I walk outside.

Cold air hits me but doesn’t help. Doesn’t clear anything. Doesn’t ease the pressure behind my ribs or the ache in my fucking spine.

The street’s half-empty. People drifting like smoke, none of them her.

Just the weight of every fucking thing I destroyed.

CHAPTER 40

OLIVIA

The hallway outside the security office smells like disinfectant and burnt coffee. My heels echo on the linoleum as I walk out, trying to slow my breathing, trying to process the last forty-five minutes.

The teen sat in a folding chair like he owned the room. Rage wrapped around him like armor. He wasn’t sorry. Not for what he said. Not for how he said it. Definitely not for the ambush.

Took me a while, but I got his name—Timothy Durant. Sixteen. Stubborn. And angry like it was the only thing he had left.

He knew Sebastian would be at the charity event. Knew he’d speak. Volunteered to help a couple weeks ago. Spent hours folding t-shirts and stuffing gift bags and waiting for the moment to blow it all apart.

“He ruined everything and just moved on like it was nothing" he spat. "I wanted him to feel what that’s like. When your whole world’s screwed and no one even notices.”

His voice cracked only once—when he mentioned his mother. But mostly, he seemed high on adrenaline and self-righteous pain. No remorse. No fear. Just hurt, lashing out in every direction.

From the timeline he gave, the affair happened a little over a decade ago. Sebastian would've been barely twenty.

A kid himself.

My stomach twists.

It’s a mess. A brutal, public, deeply human mess. But through all of it, my thoughts keep circling back to one person.

Sebastian.

What this must have dredged up for him. The shame. The guilt. The ghosts he already drags behind him like chains.

I push open the doors to the main floor of the venue. The tables are half-cleared, centerpieces stacked by the exit. Volunteers move like shadows, stacking chairs, packing bins. Most of the guests are gone.

I search the room. He’s not here.

Then I see Kane.

He’s striding toward me, jaw tight, eyes scanning. Relief flickers across his face when he sees me.

"Have you seen him?"

I shake my head. "I was hoping you had."

Kane curses under his breath. Scrubs a hand through his hair.

"He walked out about twenty minutes ago. Tried to get him to stay, but he just...left."

Panic scrapes at my chest. "Did he say anything?"

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