Chapter 110 Chapter 110
Cass didn’t realize she was shaking until Lena quietly stepped closer and put a hand on her arm.
Not forceful.
Just there.
Real.
Jace stayed a step behind them, eyes still locked on the man like he was trying to decide whether truth made him safer or more dangerous.
The man didn’t move.
He had the kind of stillness that didn’t feel calm.
It felt practiced.
Like he’d spent years preparing for this exact moment and still didn’t like being in it.
Cass finally spoke again.
“You said you pushed him,” she said, voice low. “But you also said my father saw me.”
The man nodded.
“Yes.”
Cass’s throat tightened.
“So he didn’t blame me.”
“No,” he said. “He didn’t.”
That word should’ve comforted her.
It didn’t.
Because it raised something worse.
“If he didn’t blame me,” she whispered, “then why did everyone let me believe I was part of it?”
Silence.
Heavy.
The man looked at her for a long moment.
Then answered carefully.
“Because it was easier.”
Jace’s jaw clenched.
“That’s not an answer.”
“It is,” the man said simply. “Just not a kind one.”
Cass felt something twist in her chest again.
“Easier for who?”
The man’s eyes shifted slightly.
“Everyone who survived that night.”
That landed differently.
Because it made it bigger than just guilt.
It made it… maintenance.
Something kept alive on purpose.
Cass took a step back.
“No,” she said quietly. “No, that doesn’t make sense. You don’t just decide to let a child believe something like that.”
The man didn’t argue.
He just said—
“You do when the alternative destroys what’s left of their life.”
Lena’s voice came in softer now.
“So you all agreed?”
The man’s silence answered her.
Jace finally moved.
“You didn’t just push him,” he said. “You helped cover it.”
The man met his eyes.
“I contained it.”
“That’s the same thing,” Jace snapped.
“No,” the man said. “It’s not.”
But even he didn’t sound convinced anymore.
Cass pressed a hand to her forehead.
Everything felt too loud inside her head.
Not noise.
Pressure.
“You’re telling me,” she said slowly, “that my entire life after that… was built around something you all decided without me.”
The man didn’t deny it.
Cass let out a breath that shook slightly.
“That’s sick.”
Silence again.
No one corrected her.
Because there wasn’t a clean version of this.
Just different levels of damage.
Jace looked at her then.
Not the man.
Her.
“Cass,” he said quietly.
She looked at him.
And something in his expression steadied her just enough to breathe.
“You’re still you,” he said.
Her voice broke a little when she answered.
“I don’t know what that even means anymore.”
Jace stepped closer.
“You don’t have to figure it out in one moment.”
Lena nodded faintly.
“For once,” she said, “I agree with him.”
A small, broken sound almost left Cass’s mouth.
Almost a laugh.
But it didn’t make it out.
The man finally spoke again.
“There’s something else.”
That stopped everything.
Cass went still.
Jace’s posture tightened instantly.
Lena frowned.
“No,” she said. “No more surprises.”
But the man didn’t stop.
“I didn’t come here just to tell you what happened,” he said. “I came because what’s coming next is already in motion.”
Cass felt her stomach drop again.
“What do you mean?”
He exhaled slowly.
“The investigation isn’t neutral anymore.”
Jace’s voice sharpened.
“What did you do?”
The man shook his head once.
“Not me.”
A pause.
Then—
“Someone else stepped in.”
Cass’s chest tightened.
“Who?”
The man looked at her.
And for the first time since he arrived, there was something almost uneasy in his expression.
“The person who originally signed off on keeping it buried,” he said.
Silence.
Then Cass whispered—
“My mom?”
The man didn’t confirm it directly.
But he didn’t deny it either.
And that was enough.
Lena’s voice dropped.
“So she knew everything.”
Jace looked stunned now.
“That’s impossible.”
But Cass wasn’t reacting like that.
She was still.
Too still.
Because pieces were shifting now.
Not breaking.
Rearranging.
Cass finally spoke.
“Why would she protect it?”
The man’s answer came slower this time.
“Because she was there too.”
That hit differently.
Jace frowned.
“No,” he said. “You said it was just the three of you.”
The man nodded.
“At first.”
Cass felt her pulse rise again.
“What does that mean?”
The man looked at her directly.
“It means she came after you left the room.”
Silence.
Cass’s breath caught.
“She saw the aftermath,” he continued. “And she made a decision in real time.”
Lena whispered.
“What decision?”
The man’s voice lowered.
“To make sure you never carried the full weight of what you saw.”
Cass felt her throat tighten painfully.
“So instead,” she said quietly, “I carried a different version of it.”
No one denied it.
Jace stepped closer to her again.
This time, he didn’t hesitate.
“Cass,” he said softly.
She looked at him.
And something in his expression changed.
Not confusion anymore.
Not shock.
Focus.
Like he was anchoring himself to her instead of the chaos around them.
“You’re not what they built around you,” he said.
Her eyes stung again.
“I don’t even know what I am.”
Jace didn’t flinch.
“Then we find out,” he said.
A pause.
“But not alone.”
That landed.
Quietly.
But deep.
The man finally stepped back.
“I’ve said what I came to say,” he said.
Cass looked at him.
“Why now?”
He paused at the doorway.
Then answered honestly.
“Because the next phase doesn’t involve me anymore.”
Jace frowned.
“What phase?”
The man looked at Cass one last time.
And said—
“When the truth leaves this room, it won’t belong to any of us.”
Then he left.
Just like that.
Gone.
Silence stayed behind.
Heavy.
Alive.
Lena exhaled slowly.
“Okay,” she muttered. “That was… a lot.”
Jace didn’t move.
Cass didn’t either.
Because even though the room was empty again—
Nothing about it felt over.
Cass finally whispered—
“So it wasn’t just about what happened.”
Jace looked at her.
“No,” he said quietly.
“It was about what happens next.”
And for the first time—
Cass understood something clearly.
The truth wasn’t the ending.
It was the trigger.