Chapter 77

Chapter 77
Garrett’s POV

The room was quiet, only the soft sound of her breathing filling the space. Lila was laying against me, her head on my chest, one arm tucked close to her body, like she was scared I might move away in my sleep.

I had my arm around her, holding her closer, it felt peaceful being this way, like I was at ease. But my mind wasn’t.

I stared up at the ceiling, eyes wide open even though the night had been dragging for hours. I couldn’t rest. Everytime I closed my eyes, I saw the papers, the files, the chain of evidences that led to my own brother.

It still felt unreal, like some kind of cruel joke. Tristan and I… we didn’t always see eye to eye, sure. We had our fights, our disagreements, he wanted his own way, I wanted mine.

But blood was blood.

And now the information I had in my hands, it pointed to him being the reason why my business had been tearing apart slowly.

Every turn, every deal slipping away, every investor turning cold, it all led back to him.

I swallowed hard, staring down at Lila’s hair where it brushed against my chin. She looked so peaceful, like she didn’t have to fight the world every second. I envied that in the moment. My world felt like it was breaking apart piece by piece.

I couldn’t just accept it. Not yet. Not without truth I could touch with my hands.

Slowly, careful not to wake her, I reached for my phone on the nightstand. The screen glowed, and I squinted against the light, thumb moving on instinct. My heart felt heavy as I dialed.

“Dean,” I said quietly when the line clicked.

There was a pause before his groggy voice came through. “Garrett? It’s past midnight.”

“I don’t care,” I said. My voice sounded harsher than I meant, so I lowered it, glancing at Lila to make sure she was still sleeping. “I need you to do something for me. Something big. And I need it done fast.”

I could hear him moving, maybe sitting up, his tone sharper now. “Alright. Talk to me.”

My throat felt dry as I said it. “Tristan.”

A silence stretched on the other side. Then a cough. “Your brother?”

“Yes.” I rubbed my temple with my free hand. “I want you to dig on him. Everything you can find. I don’t care how small, how large, illegal business, buried contracts. Meetings that don’t make sense to you and anybody else, files that were erased or covered. Anything that shows he’s been moving behind my back.”

Dean didn’t reply right away, and the silence gnawed at me.

“You sure about this?” he asked finally. “You really want me to pull threads on your own blood?”

I looked down at Lila again. She shifted a little, pressing herself closer into my chest, sighing softly like she felt safe there. My chest tightened at that. I couldn’t let her down, not her, not us.

“I don’t know if I’m sure about anything anymore, Dean,” I muttered. “But I need answers. And I want them soon.”

Dean exhaled. “Alright. I’ll dig. But you know this isn’t light work. If he’s really hiding something, it won’t be easy. And also it gonna cost you.”

“I don’t care how much or how hard it is,” I cut in, sharper than I wanted. “Just find it. I need the truth, Dean. I need to see it with my own eyes. There might be a mistake somewhere, maybe it’s fake evidence planted against him, but I need to know about it.”

For a moment I thought the call would end there, but my mouth didn’t stop. Words just kept coming out, heavier and heavier, like my chest couldn’t hold them anymore.

“And not just Tristan,” I added quickly.

Dean made a sound. “What do you mean not just Tristan?”

I shut my eyes, pressing my head back against the headboard. “There’s more. I want you to look into a few people. Nora Bennett. Mara. Even Vivian.” My voice dropped lower as I listed their names.

“I want to know what ties they have, if any of them are working together, if they’ve ever been in the same room without me knowing. If there’s even the smallest relation, you dig it up.”

Dean whistled low. “That’s a long list, Garrett. You don’t usually play wide net. You like precise targets. Why now?”

I hesitated, fingers brushing lightly over Lila’s arm. Her skin was warm, smooth too, and it reminded me of the promise I made to her, the night I told her I’d help her find the ones pulling the strings in her life. It wasn’t just about me anymore. It was her too.

I sighed into the phone. “Because this time it’s not just about business. I’m doing it for love.”

The line went quiet. For a second I thought maybe the call had dropped, but then I heard him breathe.

“For love,” Dean repeated, his voice different now. Almost like he was measuring the weight of my words. “That’s a first, boss.”

“I know,” I said, looking down at her again. She stirred, her lips moving like she was mumbling something in her sleep, then settled right back against me.

My chest ached, but in a way that was grounding. “But I mean it. This isn’t only mine anymore. There’s someone who’s being affected. And I’ll burn down anyone who thinks they can touch what’s mine.”

Dean hummed low. “Alright. You’ll have it. But Garrett… be ready. You ask for the truth, sometimes it’s uglier than the lie.”

“I’ve lived with enough lies,” I whispered.

We ended the call, and I set the phone back down. For a long while, I just stared into the dark, my arm tightening around Lila like I was afraid she’d vanish if I let go. My head was filled with Tristan’s name, with the faces of Nora, Vivian, shadows swirling in the back of my mind.

But for now, here, with her safe in my arms, I let myself breathe.