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“You wereleaving?” Jonah asks.

She ignores him and continues on. “It was a warning. That’s how they operate. Just enough pressure to make you sweat. Just enough to remind you who’s in control. Right now it’s just a witch hunt. They’re hoping word will get back to me and I’ll come home on my own, but they’re not afraid to hunt me down if I don’t.”

It’s a hunt. And she’s the prize.

Ani doesn’t look away from Boone.

“My father and Davit are sending me a message.”

Boone watches her closely, frowning.

“Davit’s connected,” Ani says. “Not just to my father’s business. To judges. Private security. People who follow orders without asking questions.”

Jonah mutters a string of cuss words.

“Davit was never just controlling. He was strategic. Calculated. Every word, every deal, every gift—there was always a reason.”

She twists her fingers in her lap again.

“I was raised to understand power. My family operates in the shadows. They were very good at looking clean while everyone else did the dirty work.”

Her voice softens. Not out of weakness but exhaustion.

“I thought I could disappear. Be careful enough. Stay gone.”

She finally looks at me.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think they’d get this close. I should never have stayed.”

“Bullshit. We want you here.”

“I’m putting Mae in danger by being here, Finn.”

“You’re not leaving!”

“There’s more.”

I shift toward her without touching her. I’m afraid if I pull her into me like I want, she’ll stop talking. We need to know everything so we can protect her from it. I’m not giving her up. Not when I just found her.

“I checked my social media. It was just one site. I thought it would be harmless. I didn’t post anything. I didn’t even stay logged in. I just wanted to see what I could find out.”

Her hands are folded again, tight and white-knuckled.

“There were messages,” she says. “Dozens. From friends, family, Davit. From people I don’t know. And then there were posts. Public ones. They’re trying to find me. And they’re not being subtle about it.”

“What kind of posts?” Boone asks, his voice quieter now. Still edged.

She closes her eyes for a second. “Videos from old sorority parties. Screenshots of texts I sent years ago, totally out of context. Half of it’s edited or twisted. Some of it’s flat-out fake.They’re calling me unstable. A danger to myself. Saying I ran because I couldn’t handle the pressure. That I broke off the engagement in some dramatic meltdown.”

My blood boils.

“They’re laying the groundwork,” she says, finally looking up again. “To make whatever comes next look justified.”

The room goes still.

Ani turns to me. And for the first time since this started, she lets it show—the fear. The shame.

My blood is pounding so loudly I can hear it in my ears. It’s a steady thrum of rage and helplessness I don’t know how to stop. Boone is mid-sentence when I abruptly reach over and wrap my arms around Ani. She startles at the sudden movement, gasping as I pull her into my chest. But then my arms are around her and she melts against me.