Chapter 46 The Rotten Core

Chapter 46 The Rotten Core

ARDEN

s

The room dimmed even further as the door closed quietly behind bthe /bneer, Cade stiffened beside me, his eyes. narrowing in the direction of the bsound/b.

Mr. Winters.

I recognized that silhouette even before the overhead glow from a monitor illuminated the sharp angles of his face. He moved calmly, exuding the confidence of someone who had all the time in the world and nothing to fear. Striding directly to theputer, he began typing a password.

Click. Click. Click. Enter.

And then the screen came to life.

A curious impulse overtook me; I leaned ever so slightly to peek through the narrow gap between the desks. My eyes widened in horror when I caught sight of a slew of bthumbnails /bfeaturing naked bodies,

Just then, a series of moans echoed from the speakers. Cade stiffened beside me, clutching my body instinctively.

The moans crescendoed further, forcing a gasp from deep within me–a sound I could not hold back, born not of fear but of sheer disgust. At that moment, the breality /bsettled heavily around bme/b.

These were the students of Elite

In ssrooms. Bathrooms. Dorm rooms.

I let out a deep, trembling breath before I could catch myself.

But the sound bwas /benough to make Mr. Winters pause.

His shoulders shifted slightly, and bhis /bhead turned slowly, scanning the space like a predator who had caught wind of blood.

Crep

Without hesitation, Cade seized my wrist and tugged me away from the meager opening beneath the desks, maneuvering us around a column of shelves. We squeezed into a tight crevice behind a server rack, barely wide enough for one person.

My back thudded against cool metal. Cade pressed flush bagainst /bme.

Chest to chest. Hips aligned. bNo /bspace to breathe.

His hand instinctively covered my bmouth/b, silencing the sharp breath that had escaped me from the unexpected heat

badiating /boff his body His skin felt warm bagainst /bbmine/b, which was still chilled from wearing only ba /bsemi–soaked tank top from earlier. Now, every inch of my chest was in contact with hisb. /b

I could feel everything

The temuon coding in his muscles. The steady thump of his heartbeat synchronizing with mine.

My breath caught in my throat–not from the fear of being discovered, but from the way his thumb grazed my cheek, a mere

veledent but potent enough to send shivers down any spine.

His eyes locked with bmine/b, a silent warming in their depths.

Aher a few more tense moments of repositioning by Mr. Winters–his action of inserting a sh drive into theputer–he finally rahaled with a weary bsigh /b

“Dut the rats get in here again?” he muttered, shaking his head in annoyance.

Chapter 46 The Rotten Core

He moved bslowly /boutside the door.

“Better get this cleaned again,” he added.

#5 Free Coins

I hadn’t brealized /bjust how shallow my breathing had be. Cade’s hand remained gently sealing my lips, allowing only the slightest whisper of air to escape. His face was so close bthat /bI could count the delicateshes brushing along his cheekbones.

Then, the doors clicked shut behind Mr. Winters.

Cade’s hand gradually lowered from my mouth, yet he didn’t step back immediately. We remained in bthe /bintimate proximity. still too close forfort.

My lips parted, my breath finally freed, and it brushed against his cheek identally. My heart raced so fast I felt lightheaded. The feel of him, the warmth of his breath so deliciously close to mine, was intoxicating.

When our eyes met again, the heat between us was something I couldn’t quite exin.

Our lips parted just bslightly/b, and for one fleeting, foolish second, I forgot we were hiding at ball/b.

Then Cade turned away first.

He stood without uttering a single word, the space between bus /bevaporating like it had never existed. His shadow drifted toward theputer tower, and I was left sitting there, still trying to catch my breath.

What just happened?

My fingers twitched at my sides as I sat up slowly, the cold of the floor grounding me to reality. I blinkedb, /bstruggling to bsnap /bmyself back to the present. Cade hadn’t looked back.

I stood, brushing dust off my knees just as he reached the monitor. His fingers flew across the keyboard, pausing only to input something into the login field.

“How do you know?” I asked, my voice hoarse from everything that bhad /bjust transpired. “The password, I mean.”

“I saw,” Cade muttered, not turning to face me.

My brows bshot /bbup /bin surprise. He actually managed to glimpse the password in that brief momentb? /b

“You saw, too, right? The videos?” he asked, pulling me away from my swirling thoughts.

I nodded slowly, taking bcautious /bsteps toward him–but hesitated, unsure if I wanted to get too close again.

He tapped bagain/b, this time on a second screen. Another password field appeared, and once more, he typed with confidence. A soft beep echoed in the room, and bthe /bfolder opened.

What spilled across the screen made my breath hitch in my throat.

Hundreds–no–thousands of files

Fifteen years‘ worth of data.

deradyden

“Oh my goodness breathed “This, this is from the Aftersound, isn’t it?”

ys the footage from the Aftersound is deleted bright /bafter the livestream,” Imed, my voice cracking with disbelief. “The sated or duplicated. That anyone who tries to distribute it is punished.”

be

I turned with urgency in my eyes. “Isn’t that what they sayi

Cade but his lower hip his fingers hovering uncertainly over the trackpad

“I supposed to be he replied quietly

b2/3 /b

1:13 AM

s

Chapter 46 The Rotten Core

He didn’t look at me at ball/b, simply staring bnkly /bat the screen. My stomach twisted with unease.

I reached over hesitantly, scrolling through years of footage. Everything was there. My bhand /bfroze when I spotted a file marked differently than the rest.

Just a single red heart emoji.

Without thinking. I clicked.

bA /bbvideo /bloaded, and suddenly there was a woman, not older than me, with a pale face. Her eyes trembled, and her voice was snall, nearly drowning in bthe /bstatic that filled the room.

“Please,” she implored. “I have a mate. I don’t want to do this-

bMy /bheart braced /bas I shut the window immediately, the pounding echoing in my ears.

“What the hell is this ce?” I choked out.

Cade’s expression darkenedpletely–his jaw clenched, hands curling into fists at his sides. The same man who had held. me moments before now looked like he was barely holding himself together.

“Cade,” I said softly, reaching toward him. “Hey. Breathe”

“Are you alright?”

A loud creak from the far wall sliced through the tension.

We both froze once more. There were footsteps, but it was the familiar whistling that made me rx a bit.

It was the school’s janitor.

Cade snapped back into bmotion/b, grabbing my wrist.

“Come on.”

He led me away from theputers, bweaving /bquickly through the towering structures. We ducked through a narrow gap, slipped past a metal shell, and hurried toward the opposite bwall/b, where a small ess door was concealed behind a btangle /bof

He pushed it open, and a brush /bof cold air hit my face..

I led to the back edge of the campus, where the maze garden sprawled in afkits glory.

He helped me climb out first, then followed, silently mming the door behind him to keep our escape concealed,

The skies had darkened, threatening brain/bb. /bI looked up for a moment when Cade suddenly pulled me by the bhand /binto the

Cadr

We weaved left, then right, plunging deeper into the dark hedges. Finally, blie /bstopped at the center–a circr clearing surrounded by twisting vines and blooming roses. It was bquiet /bhere. Tidden.

a word. Ja turned to face me

And then he hugged me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders tight, like he needed something bsolid /bto hold onto. His raded into bmy /bneck, and the scent of old leaves mingled with faint broses/b, embracing me like a bwarm /bcocoon.

“What’s happening? I murmured, bewildered

“Let “Just

“Let me hold you,” he said “Just for a moment