Lilianna followed the gesture, and she saw Neville Hope resting on a barstool.

Neville’s hazel-brown hair was slightly mussed, his nerd glasses catching the light. He was nursing a drink that was definitely not his first one of the day.

And standing beside him was Grayson Maxwell. They were close enough that their shoulders nearly touched.

Lilianna’s smile was still there, but deep inside, she was seething.

’Would you look at that? A bold mutt, hovering around our general like he owns him.’

Grayson was leaning against the bar with one arm, his body angled toward Neville. Somehow, it created an invisible wall between them and the rest of the room.

He seemed to be saying something to Neville. His expression was somewhere between exasperation and something softer.

Feelings, exclusively just for Neville.

Looking at this scene made her almost lose control of herself.

Lilianna remembered when Grayson was still at the hospital. She timed her visit perfectly when there was no one around, not even Neville was there.

For all she knew, Grayson had been lying there, motionless under the thin medical sheet. His vitals had been stable, but his consciousness was still cycling through slow recovery.

Lilianna knew that at times like this, Grayson always had a problem piecing her memories together.

If she is the first one he saw, then her plan would work.

When his silver eyes had opened—confused, searching—Lilianna had been the first face he saw.

"It’s me," she whispered quietly, keeping her voice incredibly gentle. "You’re safe now. I saved you."

These were Grayson’s most vulnerable times. He had a reflexive habit of trusting the first coherent explanation offered to him.

As proof, Lilianna saw that Grayson’s expression when he looked at her was edged with something close to gratitude.

’We saved his life,’ the voice reminded her now. ’At least, he thinks we did. Just don’t slip up.’

Yeah, her inner voice was right. She needed to keep her act together if she still wanted Grayson to owe her a debt of life.

After all, in all the reasons she could think of, that gratitude was the only reason she was still breathing.

The moment the truth comes out, Grayson would surely be furious enough to detain her once more or even torture her in the process.

But still, with this gratitude, he hadn’t killed her, just detained her. All because somewhere in the fog of his recovering mind, the imprint of her words remained: I saved you.

However...

’He’s pulling away from us. You can feel it, can’t you? Every interaction tonight was perfunctory. Distant. He barely even looked at us when we arrived. Didn’t even ask where we had been. Or how we got out.’

Her inner voice was right. Even though Grayson was the one who approached her earlier, his response had been polite with a brief exchange of pleasantries.

His attention kept sliding away from her—back to that slut that was having a conversation with Pete.

Even if he didn’t look back at that slut, Grayson still found moments to turn on his light brain or talk to anyone other than her.

’And now he’s over there. With that nobody, playing nursemaid to a drunk loser. Unforgivable.’

Lilianna’s manicured nails pressed crescents into her palm.

’Calm down. Don’t let them see our expression. We have Helena now. That slut omega doesn’t stand a chance against a real friend.’

Right. Helena.

’So why are we still angry?’

Because Grayson wasn’t looking at her.

Because he was only looking at that slut with the cheap glasses and the borrowed confidence. He kept leaning down to say something in his ear.

And that shameless nobody had the audacity to ignore Grayson like was used to this kind of thing.

He just kept drinking and ignoring Grayson.

And Grayson allowed him to act like that to him.

’He’s never been like that with us,’ the voice commented, adding fuel to the fire.

Yeah, he had never been that... eager before.

’We’re his benefactor. How could he abandon his benefactor over a slut? If this goes on, we—’

"Lily?" She heard Sarah’s voice. "You okay? You kind of zoned out."

Lilianna blinked, and the smile returned like a switch flipped.

"Sorry! Just a little tired from the trip." She laughed lightly. "So, tell me—do you know how to do that trick shot? I’d love to learn that."

’Good girl. When the time comes...’

○●○●

As Grayson pulled away from his earlier conversation, he threw a slight nod at Pete—a quick, almost invisible gesture of thanks.

Pete had spent the last fifteen minutes covering for him, as Grayson engaged Lilianna in conversation.

Pete acknowledged the nod with a faint tip of his glass without making it too obvious.

Grayson turned his attention to the bar.

Neville was on his fourth drink, and his cheeks already had a faint flush. His glasses sat slightly crooked on his nose, and he didn’t make eye contact with anyone.

Grayson’s brow furrowed with growing irritation as he watched Neville continue to drink away without care. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Neville Hope doesn’t drink to forget. He didn’t even drink alcohol if there was a non-alcoholic option.

So the fact that Neville was staring at his amber glass blankly... concerning.

Grayson leaned against the bar beside him. "That’s your fourth."

Neville didn’t look up. "Sixth."

"...Sixth."

"The first two were quick. You missed them."

Grayson’s jaw tightened. "You knew that, and you’re still drinking?"

Grayson reached over and placed his hand flat over the rim of Neville’s glass.

"You’re done."

Neville finally looked at him. His eyes were hazy but not unfocused; it was even sharper than usual.

"Are you my mom? Why do you get a say on how much I drink?"

"Even if I’m not your parent, I am your boyfriend."

Neville was about to retort that he was just a fake boyfriend, but swallowed the words back. He knew that saying that was just him being unreasonable.

In the end, Neville could only swat away Grayson like an annoying fly and said, "Boyfriend. Parent. Either way, I’m already an adult. I can do whatever I want, whenever I want."