Lucas POV
The night air felt colder than usual as Noah and I climbed over the high metal fence and dropped into the empty alley behind the mansion.
My boots hit the ground first.
Noah landed beside me a second later, the heavy duffel bag swinging over his shoulder.
"Holy hell," he whispered excitedly. "Did that actually just happen?"
I didn't answer.
My eyes were still fixed on the mansion behind us.
Three floors of glass and marble, glowing faintly in the darkness like some untouchable palace.
A place built for people who had everything.
And yet…
The woman inside had looked like she had nothing.
Noah punched my shoulder.
"Hey! Earth to Lucas."
I blinked.
"What?"
"That woman," he said, shaking his head with disbelief. "Did you see that? She literally told us to rob her."
"I saw."
"She even showed me where the safe was!"
Noah unzipped the bag and peeked inside, grinning like a kid on Christmas morning.
Stacks of cash.
Diamond necklaces.
Gold bracelets.
Enough money to change most people's lives.
But my mind wasn't on the bag.
It was still inside that bedroom.
On the woman standing barefoot in the doorway.
Calm.
Empty.
Like she had already given up on everything.
Noah slung the bag back over his shoulder.
"Man, tonight was insane," he said happily. "Best robbery we've had all year."
"We didn't rob her."
Noah frowned.
"What?"
"We didn't rob her," I repeated quietly.
"She practically robbed herself."
Noah laughed.
"Does it matter?"
He nudged me with his elbow.
"Money is money, big brother."
We started walking down the alley toward the street where our car was parked.
A black sedan that had seen better days.
The kind of car nobody ever paid attention to.
Perfect for disappearing.
Noah opened the trunk and tossed the bag inside.
The diamonds clinked softly against each other.
"You're thinking about her, aren't you?" he said suddenly.
I shut the trunk.
"No."
"Liar."
I shot him a look.
Noah leaned against the car, crossing his arms.
"Don't give me that face," he said. "I know you. You've been quiet ever since we left."
"I'm always quiet."
"Not like this."
He studied me carefully.
"You feel sorry for her."
I scoffed.
"She lives in a mansion."
"So?"
"So people like that don't need sympathy."
Noah shrugged.
"Maybe."
He walked around the car and climbed into the passenger seat.
"But you should've seen your face when she said she didn't want any of it."
I slid behind the wheel.
The engine started with a low rumble.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Noah said,
"Something's wrong with that woman."
I gripped the steering wheel tighter than necessary.
"She looked like she wanted to die," he continued.
My jaw tightened.
Because he was right.
That wasn't the face of someone being robbed.
That was the face of someone who had already lost everything.
I pulled the car onto the empty road.
Streetlights flashed past the windshield one after another.
Noah leaned his head back against the seat.
"So," he said casually, "should we talk about the real problem tonight?"
"What problem?"
"We didn't find it."
The words hung heavy in the car.
I already knew that.
From the moment we stepped into the mansion, I knew we wouldn't.
Still, disappointment settled in my chest.
"We'll find it," I said.
Noah sighed.
"We've been saying that for six years."
Six years.
Six years of breaking into the homes of billionaires.
Six years of searching for a blueprint that might not even exist anymore.
Six years since the night our lives were destroyed.
My hands tightened around the steering wheel again.
"We'll find it," I repeated.
Noah didn't argue this time.
Instead he stared out the window at the passing city lights.
"You know what's funny?" he said after a moment.
"What?"
"That woman."
"What about her?"
"She's rich."
"Yes."
"Like the people we usually rob."
I nodded slightly.
"And yet," Noah continued slowly, "she looked more miserable than anyone I've ever met."
His words echoed uncomfortably in my mind.
Because he wasn't wrong.
I had seen hundreds of rich people over the years.
Panicking.
Begging.
Threatening.
But never someone like her.
Someone who simply…
didn't care.
We stopped at a red light.
Noah glanced at me again.
"You're still thinking about her."
I sighed.
"Drop it."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because something about that whole situation was weird."
The light turned green.
I pressed the gas.
"She's not our problem," I said.
"We got what we came for."
"No we didn't," Noah corrected.
"We came for the blueprint."
The reminder sent a familiar wave of frustration through me.
He was right.
We had searched every room in that mansion.
Every drawer.
Every office.
Nothing.
The blueprint wasn't there.
Noah rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Still," he said slowly, "she might be useful."
I glanced at him.
"How?"
"She's married to a billionaire."
My grip tightened again.
"Was," I said.
Noah blinked.
"What?"
"She said she lives alone."
"So?"
"So the husband's gone."
Noah leaned forward in his seat.
"That's even more interesting."
"How?"
"Because billionaires don't just disappear."
He had a point.
Men like that always left a trail behind.
Power.
Money.
Enemies.
Secrets.
I turned onto the highway.
The city skyline stretched across the horizon like a glittering wall of glass.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Noah said quietly,
"What was her name?"
I frowned.
"How would I know?"
"You didn't look around the house?"
"Of course I did."
"Then?"
I thought back to the bedroom.
The dresser.
The photographs.
The silver frame on the nightstand.
A name had been engraved at the bottom.
I hadn't meant to remember it.
But somehow…
I did.
"Ivy," I said finally.
Noah grinned.
"Ivy."
He repeated the name slowly.
"Pretty name."
I didn't respond.
My mind was already drifting back to that moment in the bedroom.
The way she had looked at us.
Not afraid.
Not angry.
Just… empty.
Noah stretched his arms behind his head.
"Well, Ivy," he muttered.
"Thanks for the donation."
I pulled the car into a quiet side street near our apartment building.
The engine went silent.
Noah grabbed the duffel bag from the trunk.
"Another successful night," he said cheerfully.
But I didn't move.
My eyes drifted back toward the distant skyline.
Somewhere out there was that mansion.
And the woman standing barefoot in the dark.
"Lucas."
Noah's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
"What?"
"You're doing it again."
"Doing what?"
"Thinking about her."
I rubbed my temples.
"It was one robbery."
"Then why do you look like you just met a ghost?"
I didn't have an answer for that.
Instead I stepped out of the car and locked the door.
We headed toward the apartment building.
Halfway up the stairs, Noah spoke again.
"You know what?"
"What?"
"I bet she'll call the police tomorrow."
"Probably."
"And then we'll see our faces all over the news again."
"Good."
He laughed.
"Yeah. The famous Robin Hood brothers."
But his smile faded slightly.
"You still believe we'll find it someday, right?"
I stopped walking.
For a moment, I could see the image clearly in my mind.
My father standing in the living room, holding a folder with excitement shining in his eyes.
"This blueprint will change everything," he had said.
"They'll never control the world's money again."
Then the memory shifted.
The broken house.
My mother bleeding on the floor.
Her last words echoing in my ears.
Run.
I pushed the memory away.
"Yes," I said firmly.
"We'll find it."
Noah nodded.
"Good."
We reached our apartment door.
He unlocked it and stepped inside.
But before I followed him, my mind drifted one last time to the woman in the mansion.
Ivy.