The room was heavy with unspoken rivalry. Lilly sat stiffly on the couch, her laptop balanced on her knees, while Luna leaned closer to Mark, setting the coffee cup and a neatly wrapped croissant at the edge of his desk like a silent claim.
Mark had always been composed, unreadable even in tense moments, but this morning there was something different in the way he moved. His voice had already shut down Lilly's attempt to leave; now, his eyes glinted with a deliberate sharpness that made her skin prickle.
Luna seemed to sense it too, her smirk blooming wider as she lowered her voice, "You've been pushing yourself too hard, Mark," she said softly, tilting her head so her hair brushed against his shoulder, "I thought you might like a break."
Lilly's jaw tightened, her gaze dropping to the glow of her laptop screen. The words on her report blurred, slipping out of focus. She told herself to ignore it, to bury her attention in the numbers and drafts scrolling across the page, but every laugh Luna breathed, every brush of her manicured hand against Mark's sleeve, sank like a thorn into Lilly's chest.
And Mark… he wasn't pushing her away.
He leaned back, relaxed in his chair. His arm stretched across the backrest, his eyes cutting briefly toward Lilly as if measuring every twitch of her expression. His lips curved in provocation.
"Luna," he said smoothly, his tone carrying an almost lazy indulgence, "You do know how to time things."
The words landed heavily in the air. Lilly's fingers stilled on the keyboard.
Luna laughed softly, triumphant, and perched herself on the edge of his desk. She leaned in closer, her perfume wrapping the room in sweetness Lilly couldn't escape.
Something hot burned under Lilly's skin. She pressed her lips together, willing herself into silence. She would not give them the satisfaction of seeing her break.
Mark's gaze flicked back to her. She could feel it even without looking up. The weight of it, daring her to react, to betray herself. He wanted her jealous. He wanted to see her squirm.
Her hands trembled faintly, though she forced them steady on the keyboard. If this were some twisted test of endurance, she would survive it with her dignity intact.
But then Luna leaned closer, so close their shoulders brushed, and Mark tilted his head toward her just enough to make Lilly's throat close.
Her breath caught.
And at that sharp and jarring moment, her phone rang.
The sound sliced through the tension like glass shattering. Lilly startled, fumbling for it in her bag.
Lilly didn't hesitate. Something about the call, the unfamiliar number flashing across the screen, the cold clutch of instinct in her chest, compelled her hand to swipe.
"Hello?" Her voice trembled slightly as she pressed the phone to her ear.
"Miss Levine?" The voice was rushed, tense, "This is St. Andrew's School. We need to inform you..."
Her blood turned to ice. The world dimmed around her, the edges of the room fading until all she could hear was that voice spilling words she couldn't fully process, words her heart resisted but her mind grasped with terrible clarity.
"…incident at school… Nathan Levine was among the victims present during—"
Her vision blurred. The laptop slid from her lap onto the couch with a dull thud as she rose to her feet, one hand gripping the phone, the other clutching the edge of the sofa like an anchor.
"Wait," she interrupted, her voice breaking, "Where is Nathan now? Where—"
The room fell into silence around her. Even Luna froze, her triumphant expression dissolving into uncertainty.
Mark's chair scraped against the floor as he rose, almost predatory. His gaze fixed on Lilly, not the phone, not the silence hanging in the room, but the pallor in her face, the way her lips trembled as though the words she'd just heard had gutted her. For a fleeting second, something that looked like concern shadowed his features, but beneath it burned something darker. His jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing with a storm he didn't voice. He and Luna hadn't caught a single word of the call, yet it didn't matter. To him, it wasn't about what had been said. It was about the unforgivable fact that she had turned away from him, given her attention to someone else's voice instead of his command.
"Where is Nathan now?" Lilly demanded again, louder this time, desperation cutting through every syllable.
On the other end, the voice gave instructions. From the hospital name, location, and the rush of emergency protocols. Lilly barely absorbed the details, but she clung to them like lifelines.
She didn't even realize she'd started moving until she was halfway to the door. Her chest felt crushed, her breaths sharp and shallow. She had to get to Maria, her supervisor. She needed permission to leave, needed the paperwork, needed out.
"Lilly!"
Her name snapped like a whip behind her. Mark's voice was furious. She didn't turn. She ran. Her heels struck the hallway floor, her breath ragged as she clutched the phone still pressed to her ear, nodding to words she barely heard. Her only thought was Nathan. Sweet, stubborn Nathan, with his too-big backpack and shy smile. Her little brother.
Her heart clenched. No. Not him. Not like this.
The finance office came into view at the far end of the hall. Lilly's throat was raw, her chest burning as she burst through the door.
"Maria—" her voice cracked, her entire body trembling. "I—I need to leave. Please, I have to go. My brother—"
Maria looked up from her desk, startled by the sheer panic in Lilly's face. The older woman stood quickly, rounding the desk to steady her.
"What happened?"
Lilly shook her head violently, tears stinging her eyes, "Nathan. His school—there was a shooting. They called me. He's—he's at the hospital. Please, I need to go now. Please!"
Maria didn't hesitate. Her hand squeezed Lilly's arm firmly, "Oh my God, go! Don't worry about anything here. Just go..."
Lilly's knees nearly buckled with relief. She nodded, breathless, muttering a rushed thank you before darting back toward the elevators. All she could hear was her own pulse pounding in her ears, her own desperate prayer repeating with every step.
Please let him be alive. Please let me reach him in time.