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“Do you still believe that?”

He met my eyes. “Suspending Aurora? Yes.”

He didn’t hesitate. “Doing it without you? No. Those are two different decisions. I treated them like they were one. I know now they never were.”

My mind drifted back to the logistics. “How did she get me there? I selected the lobby. The elevator took me somewhere I had never chosen.”

He was quiet. “Marcus reviewed the footage. She followed you from the gardens that morning. She was there the whole time you walked. In the hedges, along the paths, close enough to touch you.”

His jaw tightened. “She didn’t need to know when you would come back to the Research Pavilion. She only needed to know that you would. And when you stepped into the elevator, she redirected it.”

“How? I thought the overrides were secured.”

“They were. The access systems at Blackwood Hall were designed years ago, while Victoria was still employed here. She helped build the very thing meant to keep her out. After the fire, I secured every door. I never thought to secure the ones she had drawn herself. I built a fortress,” he said quietly, “and forgot who taught me where the walls were thin.”

“Victoria admitted she was responsible for the fire,” I said.

“She told you that?”

“Yes.”

“There’s more.”

“More?” I asked.

“Yes, things you don’t know to ask me.”

I braced myself.

“On the evening of the masquerade, Aurora’s trial design and pathway information was accessed through Blackwood’s internal system.”

“That’s what you meant when you referred to the ‘incidents’ during the Executive Briefing.”

“Yes.”

“What time did it happen?”

“At 10:47.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that. While I was falling for a stranger behind a mask, Alexander’s secrecy had already begun.

“I had Security protecting you without your knowledge. After the fire, if you were alone in your suite, I made sure someone was nearby.”

“Outside my apartment?”

“Nearby.” He continued. “After the proposal, I increased it.”

“Why?”

“Because Victoria was there. She watched us. As soon as I found out, I worked with Security to vary your routes through Blackwood. Entrances. Elevators. Anything that made your movements less predictable.”

The realization came all at once. “The spa day.”

He nodded, then dropped his head.

I stood up and walked to the window. My eyes burned, and I blinked hard before tears could fall. It was becoming difficult to separate the memories I had lived from the decisions that had been made around them.

“There’s one last thing.”