"Who is Elias Montague?"
I do not shout it. I do not need to. The name already tears through the yard hard enough on its own.
Victor stands three steps away from me with smoke behind him and the lake at his back. His face changes in the smallest way first. His mouth. Then his eyes. Then everything else. That is how I know the answer matters.
The board man steps forward again. "Miss Montague, hand over the file."
"Be quiet," I say without looking at him.
Julian stays in front of me, but only half now. He is protecting me and listening at the same time. Adrian watches Victor with a sharp, unreadable stare, like he is measuring how much truth this old man can still carry before it crushes him.
I pull the hospital paper out farther. My name. The crash date. The second line beneath mine.
