Eric's POV:
I sat in the car, my hand trembling uncontrollably as I held a cigarette. During the lecture, I had run into the chairman of the competition committee and asked him if there were any submissions that stood out this year. I was eagerly hoping to hear Cheryl's name.
And I did.
He told me there was a university student named Cheryl Buchanan whose preliminary submission was remarkable. But she had missed the final deadline. What a shame.
At the time, I couldn't understand why she didn't make the deadline. But now… I couldn't bring myself to revisit what I had just witnessed.
For the first time, I felt like a complete i***t—and I was afraid.
If Cheryl had pushed me away because William had been using Rachel's accounts to control her, then why, after I solved all of that, was s
