I stared at Lily. My mouth fell agape with horror.

Had my dad really been involved in the Wyman & Rimmel investigations?

This couldn't be possible!

Or could it?

Due to the classified nature of my dad's employment at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he never shared much about his day-to-day office routine with anyone since it often pertained to matters of national security, but, at the very least, I knew that he worked in the Science and Technology Branch. I always assumed that he was busy overseeing their operational technologies like digital forensics, electronic surveillance, technical surveillance, and tactical operations. It wasn't his job to investigate white collar crime.

Unless—my dad had been called on to work in conjunction alongside the team that was looking into Mr. Mazur's insider trading activities?

My heart thumped hard as I suddenly recalled the promotion my dad received a few years back. At the time, I'd been thrilled about it. Not for the abysmal government increase in salary. We certainly didn't need the money since my dad already inherited plenty of millions from his dad. But because his higher position of power would make my grind at Ashton Wellesley that much easier. My dad assumed his directorship role shortly after Zac's dad was found guilty of the charges against him. In retrospect, the advancement in my dad's career seemed conveniently aligned to the timeline of Mr. Mazur's imprisonment. Much in the same vein as Mr. Sinclair's improbable promotion at Wyman & Rimmel.

Question after question fired through my brain like ricocheting bullets.

Why was Lily being so open with me, of all people, about this sensitive information?

Was it because she and her dad suspected something?

What about Zac?

Did he know about my dad's potential involvement?

If Zac knew, then why hadn't he mentioned it to me before?

Furthermore, if my dad had indeed helped put Mr. Mazur in prison, then where did that leave Zac and me?

Fucking hell.

A chill settled over me. This was the second soul-crushing bomb Lily had dropped on me tonight. Every fiber of my being wanted to reject her claims, but the paranoid, conspiracy-driven part of me feared that there might be some truth in her words, after all.

Taking in a slow, deep breath, I tried to mask my neurosis with false bravado. "You're full of shit, Lily. My dad doesn't have anything to do with Mr. Mazur's investigation. His name has never been attached to the case in any way, shape, or form."

"Maybe I'm a liar," she replied in a sing-songy voice. "Or maybe I'm not."

I grunted in frustration. "If our dads' names aren't on the public record for the case files, then how did you find out about their partnership? Did your dad tell you?"

Her green eyes sharpened. "Why do you want to know?"

Up until now, Lily hadn't shown much interest in talking about our dads. I'd been the only one driving our discussion in that particular direction. At present, she didn't appear to suspect anything about what Zac and I had been up to tonight. I didn't want to drum up any more suspicion.

I scoffed and shrugged. "No reason. Just curious."

"Are you worried that Zac will dump your ass once he finds out what your daddy did to his daddy?"

My nerves eased a smidge. It seemed Lily assumed that Zac didn't know anything, either. "If he ever dumps my ass, I'll be sure to unleash all my rage on you."

"Weren't you going to do that, anyway?"

"Naturally."

Her demeanor shifted. "I should compliment you. You handled my surprise very well this evening. I still despise you, but, I admit, you've got grit."

I almost laughed. This whole conversation was fucking weird. It was no secret that I wanted to grind this bitch to a pulp for everything she had done to me. I was pretty sure she plotted a similar fate for me. Yet, there was something so bizarrely civil about this exchange between us.

"I guess I've had a lot practice with people fucking me over. You're not special, Lily."

A strange gleam entered Lily's eyes. I didn't know what to make of it, exactly. "Maybe that's why we're so drawn to each other, Cate. We both know what it's like to feel real pain."

My smile was all teeth. "Speak for yourself, bitch. We're nothing alike."

She argued, "We're practically twins."

Just then, Zac appeared at my side. As did Nat and Amari. Bea and Trick approached as well, but they stood at a further distance away with watchful expressions on their faces.

Lily lifted a scornful eyebrow at all my friends and siblings. "My, my, Cate, there was no need to call in the whole brigade for little ol' me."

Zac was already looking frighteningly furious, and Lily's comment only seemed to antagonize him further. His entire posture was now geared to draw blood. Most of his hostility was directed at Lily, but I could feel some of it trickling towards me as well. I had a sneaking suspicion that somebody, probably Bea or Nat, had filled him in on what he missed during his "extended trip to the bathroom." He was likely pissed that I hadn't texted him about the video.

"You fuck with my girl," he growled at Lily, "you fuck with me. I'm gonna make you pay, and I'm gonna make sure that you never see it coming."

"Oh, Zachary! I do love it when you try to be bad."

He took a step towards Lily. The girl shrunk back instinctively. If she had been a guy, I was pretty sure Zac would've turned her face into an abstract work of art right then and there.

"I know what you're capable of, but do you really know what I'm capable of?"

Lily eyed Zac cautiously, as though she was finally seeing him for the first time. "You should've picked me, Zachary. The two of us could've taken on the world together. I'm ten times the badass bitch that Cate pretends to be."

Tensions were rising, and I didn't want Zac to cause a scene on my account. Before I could step in, however, Amari stepped forward. What she did next was very unexpected and very quick. She marched right up to Lily, raised her glass of red up high, and, with a flick of her wrist, splashed the wine onto Lily's face.

"Cate is more of a badass and a way scarier bitch than you could ever hope to be."

My mouth dropped. A hint of wary optimism bubbled inside me.

Could this be Amari's version of extending the olive branch?

The other guests turned to gawk as Lily screeched in rage. Dark red liquid dripped down her face like blood onto her ivory-colored gown.

"How dare you! This is Marchesa! Do you have any idea how expensive these things are?"

Amari sniffed caustically. "Oh, trust me, I know all about Marchesa. I've always found them to be very accessible, though. A grand or two for a gown is practically pocket change. Maybe don't buy things that you can't afford, hmm?"

"Shut the hell up, you stupid brown slut!" Lily stomped away in a rage, shrieking like a mad woman, "I can't believe you ruined my dress! Daddy's going to kill me!"

I could only hope Lily had left to clean up and wouldn't come back with a shotgun or something. Although, I wouldn't put anything past her at this point.

Bea ran after Lily in an attempt to calm her down. I didn't blame my sister. She was probably afraid of getting kicked out by the hostess before her charity ball ended. Meanwhile, Trick and Zac had started sizing each other up like gorillas again. I knew I needed to get Zac and his flash drive out of the house as soon as possible, but...

Amari was still here.

I glanced over to my friend and whispered in awe, "You were so fucking amazing just now, Amari. Thank you."

Amari glared at me. "Don't talk to me, Cate. I haven't forgiven you. I just don't like to stand by when other people hate on you."

Her expression softened a little. "I saw the video, by the way. It was heinous. I hope Bea finds the asshole who put together that disgusting prank. I'm so sorry you had to see it."

Nat ambled over to us. "How are you feeling, Cate?"

"Not great, obviously," I mumbled, "but I can hold it in until I get home."

Nat's eyes filled with concern. "Did you want Amari and me to—"

Without giving Nat a chance to finish, Amari grabbed her hand and started dragging her away. "Come on, Nat! I think we've done enough for Cate tonight."

Nat shot me an apologetic look as she stumbled away from me towards Amari. I shrugged at her to show that I understood the situation. It appeared Amari and I wouldn't be extending any more olive branches tonight. Clearly, that girl knew how to hold onto a grudge.

Not long after Nat and Amari disappeared into the crowd, Zac and I slipped away from the ballroom. On the walk back to his car, Zac told me that he managed to transfer Mr. Sinclair's files, at least, all the ones that he could find, onto the flash drive. Instead of being happy about our success, however, Zac was in a pretty foul mood. He wasn't very talkative at all.

As we sped away from Lily's house, I tried to lighten the atmosphere. "Can you believe we're actually getting away with this? It almost feels too easy."

He sighed. "You think this was easy? I dunno what you're smoking. Nat told me that some shithead embedded some real morbid pics of your mom into Bea's video. She didn't know who did it, but I suspected Lily right away. I didn't even see the photos, and this shit is starting to get way too real for me."

"Yeah, it's a lot to process," was all I could say weakly in response.

Those images of Mamma would haunt me forever. The only way I was still functioning right now was because I had willed my mind to pretend as though the video didn't even exist. Maybe Zac had a point. Maybe all the fuckery that happened tonight was karma's way of punishing us for committing this crime.

In gruff tones, he demanded, "Why didn't text me like I asked you to?"

"Because I knew you had something more important to do."

He frowned deeply. "Wrong fucking answer."

I tried again, and, this time, I let my guard down. "I just didn't want to fall apart in front of everyone. Not at Lily's house. I didn't text you because I couldn't even bring myself to acknowledge that video."

"I get that, Cate, but I want you to know something," he said very seriously, "nothing is more important to me than you. I would've stopped what I was doing in a heartbeat to be there for you."

I hesitated. I thought of what Lily had spilled to me regarding our dads.

Would Zac still feel that way after I told him everything?

"Baby?"

"Yeah?"

"I have something to tell you."