h4Chapter 794: 794-We Failed A Friend./h4

    strongHnie:/strong

    I stayed in the office for a minute before deciding to go after him. I was going to confront him and stop him from chasing Lucy. There was no way I would let him get fooled by her, whatever lies she had spun. But then I wondered– was it really that easy for anyone to fool Norman?

    The moment I stepped out the door, I bumped into someone, and he grabbed my arms, pulling me back inside the office.

    "Maximus, let me go," I grunted, shoving him off me.

    "You’re not going after him," he demanded, pointing at me.

    I didn’t understand what was going on with my mates, or if they were even mine anymore. My face started to falter and tears welled in my eyes, and Maximus’s eyes widened.

    "Wait, it’s not what it looks like. We’re ying a game," he blurted out quickly.

    I covered my face with my hands. I was a fucking mess, emotional as hell, hormones wrecked, my mind breaking down with them.

    "Yeah, I know. You’re all ying with me," I muttered, hupping.

    "No, no, no, no, no. Listen. We’re not ying with you—we’re ying with Lucy," he whispered.

    I lowered my hands and stared at him.

    "Just drink some water first." He grabbed a ss, filled it, and handed it to me. I turned my back to the door, shaking my head, but he insisted until I finally took a few sips. He set the ss down, and I gave him a look that said he’d better exin everything.

    "Did she lie to him? Did she fool him somehow?" I asked in a low voice.

    "Oh, so if Norman cheats, it’ll be someone else’s fault? Hnie, how can you have a favorite?" Maximus groaned, half-yful, hands on his waist.

    "It’s not funny, Maximus. You have no idea how I felt when he—" I cut myself off. I couldn’t even repeat it.

    Maximus lowered his hands. "I can imagine. I’m so sorry. We didn’t know you’de here."

    I swallowed hard. What was going on with him? But if Maximus was involved, then maybe it wasn’t something private or intimate. Like he said, they were ying a game. But what kind of game? And why didn’t they tell me?

    "It’s not Lucy," he said tly, expecting me to understand.

    "It’s not Lucy’s fault? Is that what you’re trying to say?" I asked, confused. He wasn’t being helpful, so I had to piece it together myself.

    "No. The girl—that’s not Lucy. That’s not your friend."

    His words stunned me. I stared at his face in silence, and then I heard footsteps behind me. I didn’t have to turn to know who it was. Norman ced a kiss on my shoulder, and I instantly shoved him away with my elbow.

    "Whoa," Maximus teased, while Norman rubbed his chin.

    "That’s the entity from the 10th floor inside Lucy," Norman said, making my heart sink.

    "No," I whispered. Not because I didn’t believe them, but because it made me feel like a terrible, terrible friend. All this time, it wasn’t Lucy.

    "It’s true. When she fell, the entity entered her body and started living in it. Everything she’s been saying has been a lie to throw suspicion off, so no one would find out she stole Lucy’s body," Maximus exined.

    My breathing grew heavier.

    "Okay, you need to sit down," Norman urged.

    I raised a hand to stop him. "Stay back. Don’te closer."

    "Let me grab a chair," Maximus offered, but I shot him a re too. Just because I was furious with Norman for hiding it didn’t mean Maximus escaped my anger. He knew too. They were both guilty.

    I sat down by the window and opened it, gulping in fresh air.

    "Is Lucy dead?" I asked, shaking at the thought.

    "No, no, no. She’s still in there," Norman said, stepping closer, reaching for my chin, but I pushed his hand away again.

    I felt my heart instantly start to break down again.

    "So, it’s been more than a year, Norman," I said through my hands. My voice came out deep, partly from crying and partly because I was pressing my face so tightly against my hands.

    "It’s been more than a year," I repeated to myself, feeling like such a terrible friend.

    "It is not your fault. Nobody suspected it," Maximus said.

    "Yeah, because nobody knew her. Me, Gavin, we knew her. We were supposed to know. It was obvious she was a different person. We just believed it because we didn’t care enough," I grunted, sniffling.

    "It’s not fair to me yourself. Her own family thought she was only acting differently because she wanted to change her life. And it happens, Hnie," Norman said.

    I dropped my hands from my face and turned to look at him.

    "Once someone has a near-death experience, they sometimes change their life around. That’s probably what everyone thought happened with her," Norman exined.

    It was a nice attempt to make me feel better, but I knew the truth, we all failed Lucy. Every single one of us, even her own family.

    "And listen," Norman said as he held my hand and knelt on the ground in front of me while I sat in the chair. "We are going to rescue her, okay? This is our mission. And the reason I didn’t tell you was because I knew you’d feel this way. Our n was to free her first, then let you reunite with her. It would’ve been a happy moment, instead of you feeling terrible and helpless."

    Norman tried to exin, but I couldn’t look past the fact that she had been right there all along. Why did none of us notice her changing behavior? The entire 10th floor vanished. How did it never ur to us that it left in someone else’s body?

    "How... How are we going to free her? And how did you find out she’s not Lucy?" I asked.

    Norman took a deep breath. "When I was giving her therapy, she cracked at one point and told me about the day I was on the 10th floor. Hnie, nobody else knew about that. There’s no way Lucy would have known. That’s when I knew instantly. I’d had suspicions for some time, but I didn’t know how to handle it. But we will rescue her. I promise. We’ll find every way we can. We just need to make her believe we trust her, so we can trap her somewhere before she harms anyone else, or Lucy’s body."

    As Norman exined, I heard a sharp gasp. The three of us turned to the door and saw Gavin standing there, eyes wide and watery.