LANCE'S POV:
The morning light filtered through the blinds, casting long stripes across the living room where my laptop still sat open from the night before.
I hadn't slept. Not really.
Just dozed off in the armchair for twenty minutes or so, head throbbing, eyes strained.
But today… today was different.
Selena was scheduled for questioning. She had been formally summoned by the NBI after the new CCTV footage, the one from the hallway where Luis was last seen — confirmed it was her in the clip.
Standing beside that same skinny man. And the moment i replayed that footage last night, there was no hesitation.
I had to be there.
It wasn't about her, not directly. It was about the truth. About Aurora. About this whole setup that stank of something bigger than what was in front of us.
The NBI office was quiet when i arrived.
Unsettlingly quiet.
The kind of silence that makes every heel click, every throat clear, sound ten times louder.
I nodded at the agents i'd grown familiar with over the past few weeks and found a seat in the observation room, the one with the small one-way mirror facing the interrogation room.
Selena was already there, seated with her hands neatly folded on her lap. No makeup, no earrings, just her. Stripped down from the glam the public had known her for. She looked small. Tired.
I didn't expect her to cry.
But the moment the investigator asked, "Do you know the man you were seen speaking with in this footage?" she cracked.
"No," Selena whispered, her voice barely reaching the recorder. "He—he asked me if I'd seen Luis. He looked… legit. Like a staff member. I thought he was just new. Maybe from production. I just pointed down the hallway."
The agent pushed a still frame toward her. "This is you, correct?"
"Yes," she said. Her lips trembled. "That's me. But i didn't do anything wrong."
"Why were you in the hallway, alone?"
"I had just finished my drink. I was waiting for Luis to talk before i go home, and he wasn't in the lounge. I stepped out to find him. That's all."
I leaned forward, elbows on knees. Watching her.
"Why did you accept the roles left by Aurora?" the agent asked bluntly.
Selena let out a breath that sounded like it was punched out of her. "Because if i didn't, my agency would've sued me. I had existing obligations to fill a certain quota, and they offered me the replacement slots. I didn't know Aurora's situation would get worse."
"And the drink you handed her?"
Selena's eyes widened. "I— I didn't know anything was wrong with it! Someone handed it to me. I was already dizzy from my own last drink so… I gave it to Aurora. I swear, that's it."
She pulled out her phone and slid it across the table. "Look. This is the timestamped photo I sent to my driver that night. I left early. I didn't stay."
The investigators paused.
Looked at each other.
Then at her phone.
It wasn't much, but it was something.
Something that aligned with what Aurora had said. Something that tugged at the edges of a larger picture that refused to come into focus.
And all i could think was: Two birds in one frame.
When the questioning was over, I waited.
Selena stepped out, and for a second, it looked like she didn't notice me.
But then her eyes flicked to the side, and she stopped mid-stride.
"I didn't lie," she said, her voice hoarse. "I swear on everything, Lance."
I nodded slowly. "I know."
"People think i wanted this. Her roles. Her endorsements. They don't know how many nights i cried after she left the industry. She was my friend. And I—"
"Selena." I lowered my voice. "Be careful. This whole thing… it's bigger than you. Bigger than Aurora. Someone is manipulating the pieces. And we don't know who's next."
Her eyes flickered. "You think they'll come for me?"
"I don't know. But stay alert. Don't trust anyone easily. Especially not people who suddenly want to 'help.'"
She nodded, biting her lip. "Okay."
Then she walked away, and i stood still, her words echoing in my mind.
Back at the condo, I shut the door behind me and leaned my head against it.
This wasn't just a scandal. This was a setup.
Someone had orchestrated this like a play, and we were all cast members, walking our scenes without even knowing it.
The roles, the drinks, the hallway, none of it was coincidence. And now, with both Selena and Aurora seemingly clear of suspicion, the suspects narrowed.
The two tattooed guys.
The ones blurred out in both hallway and lounge footage.
Still no match on facial recognition. No leads from the production team. No full names. Just shadows moving behind a curtain.
But they were real.
And they were involved.
I sat in front of my laptop, staring at a still frame i had paused from last night. Luis. Talking to one of the tattooed men. His hands gesturing animatedly. The man calm, collected.
Then another still: same tattooed guy, five minutes later, down the hallway. Talking to Selena.
Too convenient.
And yet… too clean.
It felt like someone had deliberately let those frames survive. As if they wanted us to suspect them, but never catch them.
Like breadcrumbs that went nowhere.
And i hated that.
I hated how every time we found something, it ended with a dead end. Like chasing ghosts in a maze.
Later that night, I found Aurora curled up on the couch, half-asleep, the blanket tugged to her chin. Her phone rested on her chest, screen dimmed, and there was a calm on her face i hadn't seen in weeks.
She deserved peace.
She deserved to sleep without wondering what would happen next.
She deserved to live without the weight of someone else's crime dragging her down.
So i walked quietly to the kitchen. Cooked dinner. Left her portion on the warmer.
And as i poured myself a glass of water, I looked out the window at the city below, lights blinking like stars trying to outshine the darkness.
Whoever did this was still out there.
And i wouldn't stop until we exposed them.