Chapter 160: The Last Secret

Theo's POV

The warning bell for the final period had rung hours ago, but my hands were still cold. I sat in my truck in the school parking lot, staring at the steering wheel.

A second laptop. Aveline had a second laptop sitting right on her desk, and she was planning to turn it on tonight. I felt a sharp discomfort in my stomach. What if she finds anything that proves I was with Asher that night?

I have to find a way to get into her house and check that laptop before she did, or everything I had done to protect myself would fall apart.

I leaned back against the headrest, forcing myself to think clearly. I needed a simple excuse to show up at her house without making her suspect my intentions.

I walked into the main building and found her by her locker as she was packing her bag.

"I left my biology notes in the library yesterday," I said, leaning against the locker next to hers. "Do you still have yours? I need to copy something before tomorrow."

Aveline closed her locker door and looked at him. "I have them at home."

"Can I come get them after school?" I asked. "It'll only take a minute."

Aveline hesitated for a second, shifting her backpack on her shoulder. She looked like she wanted to say no, but she finally shrugged. "Fine. You will have to drop me off then."

Ten minutes later, we pulled into her driveway. The house looked quiet, but when we walked through the front door, the warm smell of cooking food hit us.

Evelyn Carter was standing in the kitchen, wiping the counter down with a clean cloth. She looked up, her face calm; she was beautiful, just how I imagined Asher's mom to be.

"Oh, Asher," Evelyn said, looking at me with a polite smile. "I didn't know you were bringing a friend home."

"This is Theo, Mom," Aveline said. "He just came to grab a school notebook."

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Carter," I said, shaking her hand. I made sure to look polite, acting like the perfect, helpful teammate.

Evelyn smiled, but then she looked at the counter and snapped her fingers. "Asher, I completely forgot. I need fresh apples and celery for the dinner soup. Can you run down to the fruit market stalls on the corner before they close?"

Aveline let out a small sigh. "Mom, can't it wait until tomorrow?"

"No, the store closes in twenty minutes," Evelyn insisted. She turned her eyes toward me. "Theo, why don't you go with her?"

"I don't mind waiting here, Mrs. Carter," I said smoothly. "I actually need to finish something with Aveline when she gets back."

"Are you sure?" Evelyn asked.

"Yeah. I'll be fine here."

Aveline grabbed her coat, giving me a quick look before she pushed the front door open and walked down the driveway. The house went quiet. Evelyn went back to the kitchen, chopping vegetables and humming softly to herself. I sat on the living room sofa for exactly three minutes, counting the ticks of the wall clock.

I stood up slowly, keeping my steps silent on the carpet. I walked into the kitchen doorway and cleared my throat. "Mrs. Carter? Is it okay if I use your bathroom?"

"Of course, Theo," she said without looking up from her cutting board. "It's right at the top of the stairs, first door on the left."

"Thank you," I said.

I walked up the stairs, making sure my boots didn't make a single sound on the wood. When I reached the top landing, I ignored the bathroom completely. I turned to the right, found the door to Aveline's bedroom, and slipped inside, closing the door quietly behind my back.

I scanned the space quickly until my eyes hit the desk near the window. There it was. A silver laptop was sitting right next to a stack of textbooks. It was completely closed.

I hurried across the floor, my pulse thudding in my ears. I opened the lid, and the screen instantly lit up, asking for a password. My fingers hovered over the keys, my hands shaking slightly. I needed to guess it fast.

I typed Asher. The screen flashed red. Incorrect.

I tried Aveline. Red again.

I bit my lip, my mind spinning. What would Asher use? He didn't care about regular school things. He only cared about the ice. I thought about the posters he used to have in his locker. I immediately queued in the name of his favorite professional hockey player, adding his jersey number at the end.

The screen clicked, and the desktop opened.

I felt a wave of heat hit my face. I moved the mouse fast, opening the main storage drives. I searched through his document folders, his downloaded files, and his internet history. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. There were no chat files with my name on them. Relief started to spread through my chest. The computer was clean. I was safe.

But just as I was about to close the lid, my eyes caught a hidden folder tucked away at the very bottom of the local drive. The file title said: Asher eyes only.

To anyone else looking at the screen, it would have seemed like a normal collection of Asher's photos and training videos. There were pictures of him in mascot, files of game strategies, and clips of him attending high school matches.

But as I scrolled down to the very last entry, I saw a video file. The thumbnail showed Asher sitting in a dark room, his face and body covered in bruises.

My fingers went numb as I clicked play.

The video opened. Asher was sitting on the edge of his bed, his breathing rough, his lips cut and swollen. He looked straight into the camera lens, speaking slowly.

"Mom, Ave, if you are watching this, I am so sorry," Asher's voice came out of the laptop speakers, sounding broken. "I created a betting platform because I needed the money.

My school funding was cut only because I wasn't a player and our family was drowning. I didn't know what else to do. I knew people loved betting on the games, but I didn't expect things to go this far. I thought it was just a cheap way to make money.

He stopped, swallowing hard as a tear dragged through the dried blood on his cheek.

"But Oliver's injury shocked me," Asher whispered, his head dropping. "I never wanted anyone to get hurt on the ice. I thought it was just a regular supplement to slow him down and alter his coordination for a single play. But it wasn't.

I suspect Theo did more. He shunned me right when he saw me, but he collected the drugs from me right after. I know he might have added more to the water even though I can't prove it.

I know I have hurt people, but I can't face the people whose lives I destroyed anymore. I can't face you. I am so afraid of what will happen when the truth comes out."

The words hit me like a physical punch. My breath caught in my throat. Asher had already figured me out before he died. He knew I added more pills.

I didn't have time to think. I heard a floorboard creak down the hall. Panic took over my brain. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, plugged the data cord straight into the side port of the laptop, and copied the confession video directly onto my device.

The progress bar loaded slowly, every second feeling like a year. The moment the file transfer hit one hundred percent, I pulled the cord out, highlighted the original video on the laptop, and permanently deleted it from the drive.

I didn't stop there. I opened the deleted files folder and made sure the video wasn't sitting there waiting to be recovered. Only when the recycle bin folder was completely empty did I close the laptop lid shut.

The bedroom door clicked open. Evelyn Carter was standing in the doorway, a look of confusion on her face. Her eyes went from me to the desk, her brow furrowing.

"Theo?" she asked, her voice turning sharp. "What are you doing in here? The bathroom is down the hall."

My mind went blank for a split second, but I forced a clumsy, embarrassed look onto my face. I stood up from the desk, shoving my phone deep into my pocket.

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Carter," I said, putting on a confused voice. "I got into the wrong place. I thought this was the guest bathroom, and then I realized it was Asher's room. I was just looking at this book I found on the desk. I didn't mean to intrude."

Evelyn looked at me for a long time, her eyes narrowing slightly as she checked the closed laptop. She didn't look like she fully believed me, but she slowly stepped back into the hallway. "Asher is back from the market.

"Thank you," I said quickly, walking past her. "Actually, please tell her I had to run. My mom just texted me, and I need to be home now, or I would be badly punished for being late. I'll just grab the notebook from her tomorrow at school."

I didn't wait for her to answer. I walked fast down the stairs, pushed through the front door, and ran straight to my truck. My hands were shaking so badly I could barely get the key into the ignition. I started the engine, backed out of the driveway, and drove away from her neighborhood as fast as I could.

I pulled over two blocks away, my breathing rough. I pulled out my phone and looked at the downloaded video file sitting on my screen.

Aveline didn't know what was on that laptop yet. She hadn't seen the confession. But she is never going to stop digging until she cleared her brother's name.

I thought once Silas was out, she would end all this. Stop the crazy disguise and leave Crestwood, but no.

Now I will have to stop her from playing the role of Asher Carter. The disguise was the only thing giving her power in school. If I stripped that away from her, the principal and the athletic board would destroy her before she ever had the chance to investigate further.

Aveline wants to keep digging. Now I will give her something else to worry about. I will expose her before she ever had the chance to expose me.