Chapter Thirty Seven: Quiet Storm
508 Words
Xavier’s POV
Something was off.
He couldn’t say what, but the air around Mila had changed.
She looked the same — same steady gaze, same calm walk — but there was a flicker beneath the surface now. Like she was running from something no one else could see.
The first clue came that morning.
He’d arrived early, leaning against his usual spot near the school gate, earbuds in, pretending not to care about anything. But then he saw it — a black sedan idling a few meters away, tinted windows, engine too quiet.
It wasn’t her usual driver.
When Mila stepped out of her car, the sedan’s window rolled down an inch. Just enough for someone inside to watch.
She didn’t notice.
Or maybe she did — because her shoulders stiffened before she walked off quickly without a word.
Xavier frowned, pulling out his earbuds. The car stayed a while longer, then slipped away.
*****
Classes dragged. Mila was distant all day — polite, cold, focused on her notes like they were a shield.
But when he caught her reflection in the window, her fingers were trembling.
He didn’t call her out. He just watched.
After lunch, she’d vanished. No one saw her leave, not even her friends. But when Xavier went to the library to avoid the noise of the hallway, he found her there — not reading, just staring blankly at a photograph clutched in her hands.
He recognized the name printed on the back before she noticed him.
PROJECT MNEMOSYNE.
He froze.
That name again.
He’d seen it once — on an old document hidden in his father’s office months ago. He’d thought it was some failed research thing, nothing worth caring about.
But seeing it now, in her hands…
No way that was a coincidence.
*****
“Didn’t take you for the library type,” he said, stepping closer.
She jumped, quickly tucking the photo into her notebook. “And I didn’t take you for the stalking type.”
He smirked, though his eyes were sharp. “Funny. Because you look like someone who’s hiding something.”
Her lips tightened. “Everyone’s hiding something, Xavier.”
“True,” he said. “But not everyone looks like they haven’t slept in days.”
She said nothing. Just closed the notebook and stood. “Mind your business.”
She walked out — heels soft, pace steady — but he saw the faint tremor in her hand when she brushed past him.
He waited until she was gone before sliding into her seat. His gaze landed on a single torn corner of the photograph she’d dropped.
A name printed faintly beside the logo:
Dr. Arthur Miller.
Her father.
*****
Xavier’s POV
That night, he couldn’t sleep either.
He kept seeing that photo — the same project name he’d seen in his dad’s files.
His father had been one of the lead investors.
Her father, one of the scientists.
Two families, tangled in something no one was supposed to know about.
And now it was coming back.
- Writer
