[Reid Mansion—Benjamin's study]
Benjamin stood alone in his study, the house silent around him.
Jack's message sat unread on his phone.
He hadn't opened it yet.
Something in his chest felt wrong. It wasn't anger or suspicion.
It was dreadful.
The kind that crept in when something irreversible had already begun.
He walked to the window, staring out into the darkness, fingers curling slowly into a fist.
"Running doesn't erase guilt," he murmured to himself.
And for the first time that night, Benjamin Reid felt the uneasy certainty that whatever Jack was running from wasn't just consequences, it was himself.
He stood by the window for sometime before he grabbed his phone from the table.
Contemplating for a while, he opened Jack's message.
