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“Oh, keep trying me.”

I chuckle.

“On a serious note though, I can’t imagine jumping into the chaos of dating with all I have going on right now.”

“Fine, but the offer stands.” She grins mischievously. “Unless there's someone else you've got your eye on?”

An image of Sean, shirtless in the kitchen this morning, flashes through my mind. I turn away to hide my expression, busying myself with pouring another cup of tea.

“No one,” I lie. “I think we made too many cookies.”

“One day,” Jen says, stuffing a cookie into her mouth, “you’re gonna fall so hard you won’t even see it coming.”

I roll my eyes again. “If I fall for anyone again, I might just end up breaking my limbs.”

8

SEAN

The second Cal pings my phone, I know it’s big.

I am in my Lemon LLC office, spread out across the desk. Screens glowing in the dark. Security footage. Messages. A whole web of filth aimed at Wren.

I tap the call.

“Talk.”

Cal breathes out. “We got something. The@everybodyhatelemonsaccount.”

“The troll account led somewhere?”

“Indeed. And it’snota troll account.”

A particular hate account calledeverybodyhateslemonscaught my attention during our investigations. Whoever was behind seems to have had it out for Wren and Lemon LLC for about a year now posting hate content, and reviews and going on about how much they hate her and her company. The level of consistency and hatred caught my attention even though it was a small account and most of their content goes unnoticed. But I couldn't help but notice they were always in Camille Ross’s comments and every media hating on Wren. I told Cal and Danito investigate the account in case it was not a regular social media troll like some of our trails.

“Tell me about it.”

“The first few threats are not from random kids or chronically-online stans. We traced them back.”

I sit up straighter. “Where? To Nova Grey?”

“Bingo. Specifically, to a cluster of burner accounts created on their office network. Whoever did this wasn't exactly covering their tracks like a pro.”

I stare at the map on my screen of the IP address match. Nova Grey. Marlowe Skye’s company.

“What a—” I cut myself off. “Marlowe Skye’s behind this.”

“Looks that way. I've packaged everything into a report for you. Just sent it.”

“Thanks, Cal.”

I end the call and open the report. Cal's thorough—timestamps, screenshots, access logs. It's all here. Marlowe Skye has been orchestrating this campaign against Wren from the beginning.

The vindictiveness of it makes my blood boil. I've seen a lot in my security career, but using your resources to destroy someone's reputation like this? That's a special kind of cruelty.

I check my watch again. 11:25 AM. She’s in a meeting. This needs to wait until her meeting is over, but I can’t sit still. I've watched her struggle under the weight of these attacks for weeks. Seen her fighting to stay strong for her son, and for her company. She deserves to know the truth.

My mind drifts to the night before, how she fell asleep against my shoulder while we watched a movie with Eric. How right it felt having them both there. How complicated everything is becoming.