"You again? What was your name-M, right?"
The woman''s voice turned icy. "You''ve got some nerve, calling here. Lysander''s in the shower and can''t talk. Don''t bother calling again. You homewrecker. Stealing someone else''s fiancé-pathetic!"
"Wait, I didn''t even know he was-" M barely got the words out before the line went dead, reced by the cold, repetitive beep of a disconnect.
She stood there, in the fading twilight on a noisy city street, ears ringing.
Homewrecker?
She''d never imagined that word could ever be thrown at her. The absurdity and injustice of it hit her full force, leaving her breathless.
It made no sense.
For a moment, M couldn''t even summon the strength to protest.
She stood there, dazed, lost in the crowd and the city noise. But eventually, she forced herself to breathe, to do something-anything. She dialed Miranda, hoping to ask about Lysander''s engagement.
Miranda was the closest connection she had to that world.
But the Wayne family, though well-off, weren''t anywhere near the Montgomerys'' league. Miranda didn''t know much—she just promised to quietly ask around. M brushed off Miranda''s curiosity with a few vague excuses.
No matter how she tried, she couldn''t let it go.
She wasn''t going to swallow this nder.
She had to get to the truth. She needed answers-because if this rumor got out, how could she hold her head up in public?
Fortescue City.
Early the next morning, M and Archie sat outside a rustic inn, sipping steaming ck tea and eating hearty beef pastries for breakfast—a local staple.
The town perched on a high teau, and the rainy season had settled in. Outside, a fine mist fell endlessly, water dripping from the eaves in silver threads. Only the hot tea brought warmth against the chill. From their spot, they could see mountains shrouded in drifting clouds.
Archie stretched out his hand, letting the rain gather in his palm, then took a big bite of his pastry. He sounded a bit frustrated. "When''s this rain going to stop? We have to make it to Zionia tonight, no matter what."
M watched the passersby moving through the drizzle for a moment, then spoke decisively. "We''re leaving now."
"What? Not going to wait for the rain to let up?"
"No point. The road from Fortescue City to Zionia is paved-pretty much thest smooth stretch we''ll get. It''s just a light rain, it won''t slow us down much. Besides
She frowned, worry creasing her brow. "We''re running out of time."
On the way here, they''d passed through a checkpoint. Thankfully, M still had her temporary ID on her, so there was no trouble.
But it left a big problem.
Her details were now in the traffic database. If anyone was looking for her, it was only a matter of time before they found her-maybe a day or two, at most.
They couldn''t afford any more dys.
She had to reach Sris City before Lysander caught up.
"I might not be much help on the roads after this, so let me drive for this stretch.
You should rest-save your energy for what''s ahead."
She made the decision on the spot.
They quickly packed some dried beef and other snacks for the road and filled their thermoses with hot water.
Then they set out for Zionia.
The ck SUV pushed through the rain, first winding through narrow mountain passes, then across rolling green ins, the grass washed bright by the downpour. With every mile, the altitude climbed and the weather grew more unpredictable.
By thetter half of the journey, snow began to fall, swirling through a dense fog. It felt as though they''d entered a silent, frozen wilderness-just their car pressing on, alone.
Thankfully, they had GPS. There was no need to rush.
The only real worry was the risk of altitude sickness as they climbed higher.
As luck would have it, that''s exactly what happened.
And what M didn''t expect was that, despite not being much of a fitness buff, she
held up just fine-while Archie started to struggle first.