Chapter 80

Chapter 80
Lila’s POV

The first thing I did when I woke up was reach for Garrett. But for some reason, he wasn't next to me on the bed.

After leaving the room, I went to his office, thinking I would find him there but I didn't. I looked around for a bit and my eyes caught the papers spread out on the table.

I didn’t mean to snoop, not really. But in that moment, it felt like the house was too quiet and my head too loud.

I heard the shower turn on from upstairs and that's when I realized Garrett was still around, I walked closer to his desk, and that's when it started playing in my mind, the times I would follow him here and sit with him while he worked.

His office always smelled like him, strong cologne mixed with faint smell of paper and leather. His desk was big, always clean, like he hated leaving things around. But now, the papers spread out filled every inch of it.

I sat down slowly on his chair, sinking into it. It felt strange, like I was in his world, sitting where he made all his decisions, where he kept his secrets.

At first I didn’t touch anything. I just leaned back, closed my eyes, imagined him sitting here, stressed out, phone to his ear, giving orders, maybe plotting how to protect me. But then my eyes landed on a small pile of folders pushed to the corner.

They weren’t labeled with names like Mara or Vivian, the people I expected to see.

I hesitated. My fingers brushed the edges of the papers, and curiosity burned me stronger than guilt. I opened one and it was filled with bank statements. Not recent ones either, but going back months, maybe years. And the amounts, good lord, it only made my chest tighten.

Large sums, repeating, every few weeks. Not to a company, not to any business name I knew. But to a person.

“Dr. Richard.”

I blinked. The name didn’t make sense at first. A doctor? Why would Garrett be paying such huge amounts to a doctor? Was he doing any form of treatment that I didn't know about?

No. This doesn't make sense. The amounts are too muc. Unless it was… unless it was something bad.

I leaned closer, flipping through more sheets, my hands shaking. Each page showed another transfer, the numbers too big to ignore. I thought maybe he was paying hospital bills, maybe helping someone secretly, but no, the name kept repeating. Dr. Richard.

Why would he pay hospital bills to one doctor particularly? And why does the name sound familiar?

I knew that name, but from where?

My stomach dropped once I remembered. I had seen him before, around the campus of the acting school, and near the hospital a bit far off from here. One of those doctors everyone seemed to know. But why Garrett? Why so much money?

The water upstairs kept running. I knew I should stop, put the papers back, pretend I never saw anything. But I couldn’t. My eyes just kept going. Then I found something else, letters. Folded papers tucked under the statements.

Some of them were threatening words, had the markings of a warning to someone. Almost like… a blackmail.

My breath hitched as I read through. My hands were cold but sweaty at the same time. Garrett had been hiding this. Paying this man, not once or twice, but regularly, like he had no choice.

And suddenly everything I thought I knew about his anger, his silence, the way he sometimes looked like he carried the world on his shoulders, it all shifted.

The water stopped upstairs and panic gripped me. I shoved the letters back, maybe not as neat as they had been, but I didn’t care. I sat frozen in his chair until I heard his footsteps moments later.

The door opened and Garrett walked in. Towel around his waist, damp hair falling over his forehead. He froze when he saw me behind his desk, his eyes narrowing immediately.

“What are you doing?” His voice was low, calm in a dangerous way.

I swallowed hard as his question met me. “I… I was waiting for you.” My voice cracked.

He walked closer, dripping water, the towel clinging to him. “On my chair?”

I gripped the armrest, my nails biting into the leather. “I saw them, Garrett. The papers. The money you keep sending to that doctor.”

His jaw clenched. The calm in his face slipped into something darker.

“Lila,” he said slowly, warningly. “You shouldn’t—”

“No!” I cut him off, standing up so fast the chair scraped against the floor. My chest heaved as I stared at him. “Don’t tell me I shouldn’t. Instead, tell me why. Why are you paying him? Why all this money, Garrett? They're in large sum for crying out loud.”

He exhaled hard, running a hand over his wet face. “It’s none of your business.”

My throat tightened. “None of my—Garrett, you promised no secrets between us. You promised.” I said pointing at him.

His eyes flickered briefly, something pained inside them, but then anger won. He stepped closer, towering over me. “I told you before, Lila. Don’t interfere in my business. This—” he pointed to the desk “—this is mine to deal with.”

I shook my head, tears stinging my eyes though I tried to hold them back. “You’re paying him because he’s threatening you. I saw the letters. He’s blackmailing you, isn’t he?”

For a second his expression faltered, like I had ripped away the mask he wore so tightly. His lips pressed into a thin line.

“Drop it,” he snapped, his voice rising now. “I don’t want to hear you say his name again.”

“Why, Garrett?!” I screamed back before I could stop myself. My heart hammered. “Why is a doctor blackmailing you? Why would you let him do that?”

Silence stretched between us, the kind of silence that roared louder than shouting. He stared at me, his chest rising and falling, his eyes burning with something between rage and hurt.

I thought maybe he’d finally tell me. Maybe he’d explain, let me in, let me carry some of the weight he’d been carrying alone. But instead, he turned away, fists tight at his sides.

“You don’t understand,” he muttered, voice low but still retaining it sharp edge. “You can’t understand. So stay out of it.”