The Billionaire Recluse & The girl who stayed.

The Monroe Fire.

~ Lexi ~

I shouldn't have been listening.

I knew that.

But their voices carried.

Through the hallway.

Through the walls.

Through me.

Jasper and Lilly.

Arguing.

Really arguing.

Not the usual quiet, controlled conversations I was used to overhearing in passing—but something sharper.

Something real.

I sat frozen at my desk, my fingers hovering over the keyboard, unable to focus on a single word on the screen.

"...you left her, Jasper."

Lilly's voice.

Firm.

Disappointed.

"She's your responsibility whether you like it or not."

My chest tightened.

I hadn't meant for this to happen.

I hadn't meant to drag Lilly into any of it.

When I emailed her, I just—

Needed someone.

Someone who knew him.

Someone who could explain why he'd gone back to acting like I didn't exist.

I didn't even know she didn't know.

About the party.

About Charlotte.

About any of it.

And now—

Now it had all blown up.

Because of me.

I swallowed hard, pushing my chair back slightly.

I needed air.

Space.

Anything that wasn't this.

—

The library had become my safe place in the house.

Quiet.

Still.

Comforting.

Jasper had told me I could come in whenever I wanted.

"Stay out of the locked room at the back."

That part had always stuck with me.

Not because I planned to ignore it.

But because...

It made me curious.

And today—

I needed a distraction.

Something to pull me out of my own head.

—

The moment I stepped inside, the silence wrapped around me.

Calming.

Familiar.

I exhaled slowly, walking further in, letting my fingers trail along the spines of the books.

Until—

I noticed it.

The door.

At the back.