RESTLESS HEARTS

CHAPTER 30

•SHAWN•

Thanks to Kim's mad hacking skills, she cracked the house security system and shut down the cameras at the back.

That made it easy for me to slip into the secret passage I'd hidden behind the house when I was fourteen. It was my ticket out whenever I wanted to sneak out with friends or hit parties back in high school.

Nobody else knows about this passage but me. It's narrow and cleverly tucked away behind the hedges, leading straight into the compound, but you enter from the back of the house.

I was decked out in all black to blend into the shadows. Jules had offered to come along, but she insisted on waiting in the car while I snuck into my own home.

This was it. I was here for answers, to see the truth with my own eyes. Tonight was my one shot.

I'd spent the whole day with Kim and her computer, giving her my security info so she could access the company's database and get my father's and sister's schedules.

I found out Shay had started working at the company two months ago. It didn't add up. Why would she work at a place she despised when she planned on leaving? What changed?

Dad and Shelby had no work-related plans in the afternoon, so they'd both be at home.

I jogged across the lawn and slipped into the small gazebo in the backyard. It was still dark inside, meaning no one had switched on the lights yet. Shay used to love this spot.

Had she stopped coming here since she began working with Dad and Shelby?

I stepped in, removing my cap. The gazebo sat a few feet away from the mansion, perfectly positioned for a view of the dining room.

Inside, I saw them all. Dad, Mom, Shelby, Shanelle, and Shay.

It was like watching a perfect family, but I felt entirely out of place, like an outsider. The sight stabbed at my heart.

Initially, it seemed like any other family dinner, the mood growing sour and tension building.

I could almost sense the atmosphere, feel the weight of it.

But then I saw Shay smile.

She smiled.

It was the first time I'd seen her smile while surrounded by people who'd always made her feel like she didn't belong.

She smiled, and so did my mother. Shanelle said something too distant for me to hear, and Shay and Mom started laughing.

Even Shelby wore a small smile.

That's when it hit me: everything had indeed changed while I was away. They'd shown the world once more that they were a perfect family, with or without me.

And now, they'd proven it to me.

I stood there in the darkness, watching from afar. Something twisted painfully inside me; I clutched my chest, breathing heavily.

They had forgotten about me.

It was as if I'd never existed in the first place. Like I was a ghost.

Slowly, I turned and descended the gazebo steps, retracing my steps through the hidden passageway.

Jules's car still waited down the street. I jogged towards it and slid inside.

I leaned my head back against the seat and took a deep breath. I could feel Jules's eyes on me, but she didn't say a word.

"They look happy," I confessed, my voice barely audible.

"And what about you?" she asked softly. I turned my head toward her.

I forced a smile, gently taking her hand from the wheel and kissed the back of it while looking at her.

"I'm happy too. With you."

She pouted, pulling me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around her, burying my face in her neck.

My eyes burned, but I closed them, focusing on Jules's scent to keep calm.

When we pulled away, she turned towards the wheel and started the engine.

"Where do you wanna go now?"

I turned to the front, releasing a deep breath and stealing one last glance at the front gates of my house. This would be the last time I'd see this place.

I looked at Jules, holding her hand and intertwining our fingers.

"Let's get out of here. For good."