Page 48 of The Echo of Forever

“Has the assistant known all along about me and Forever?”

Oliver sat down and hunched over, elbows on his knees.

“Today, she admitted to pursuing me because of it,” he revealed. “And wouldn’t elaborate but said she was on Forever’s side. I can’t lie, she’s hard to read.”

My first time laying eyes on Carmen in person was the day she walked out of Oliver’s office with that hat pulled down to conceal her face.

Forever trusted her with a lot of things, but our relationship hadn’t been one of them.

“We knew there were risks,” I said, standing.

But so much time had passed, and nothing happened, then my mother’s box was delivered, and a few months later, Forever was gone.

“I need you two staying at the compound for the foreseeable future…” My eyes met theirs before continuing. “Nobody new in or out until I say, and if I die—”

“Shut the fuck up,” Oliver cut in. “Ain’t nobody dying. We’ll stay at the compound and keep shit in order for the next two weeks. Not the foreseeable future, because I go wherever my brother goes. I’m giving you two weeks to move alone, and that’s all I got. Use it wisely.”

The nigga got up and left the room after that.

“He’s a little old to be throwing temper tantrums, but I’m with Oliver. Two weeks and that’s it, because we’re a team.” She got up and moved toward the open door. “I would use the bulk of it on Forever. Looking into Ma was her idea; she should be part of this, don’t you think?”

Why the fuck did everybody keep walking away from me?

Shaking the question from my mind, I grabbed my secured line and shot off a text.

Same time and location.

I left the office and went to my apartment in the heart of Everwood, right in the mix of society and rejector shit.

My favorite thing to be was in the know.

“Mr. Cannon, welcome home,” the doorman greeted me as I approached. “There’s a few messages for you at the front desk.”

The twenty-four-hour concierge service in my building doubled as an information hub for rejector families.

With fifteen floors and two luxury apartments on each, it brought in a lot of revenue, especially with the crowds that liked mixed company.

The Everwood Group pretended to bring us together, but I really tried to make space for everybody, mainly the families who ranked on the lower end of the society spectrum.

People like teachers, city workers, and laborers.

“Welcome home, Mr. Cannon,” the woman working the front desk mimicked, sliding a box over with all they’d been holding on to. “Everything’s included. I can have it brought up for you.”

I shook my head and picked it up. It’d been a while since I came to this place.

Without Forever, nothing we shared felt like home anymore.

“Thank you.”

I went up to the fifteenth floor, only sparing a glance at Forever’s door before getting to mine.

She didn’t even know the place existed. I wondered how she felt being back in the home her parents had complete access to.

Did it feel off to her? Or maybe like something was missing, like I was missing?

The automatic lights flickered on as I stepped into my place, the faint smell of lemon and cleaning products telling me cleaners had been inside in the last day or two.

I dropped the box on the floor at the end of the coffee table and went straight to the bedroom, trying my best to ignore every piece of her left behind.