A flicker of something dark passed through her gaze, as though recalling the moments of realization. "So, I tested it. I sent Helga and Aaron away to Paris. I needed a way to see if they would slip up, to see if they were really following her too. I called Helga on video, keeping up appearances, asking her what they were doing. But when I looked at the background… I saw them. Three of them, lurking at the edges of the frame. Watching. Following. And at that moment, I understood. They weren't just tracking me. They were tracking her."
Esme's voice dropped to a whisper, as if the words themselves were too heavy to speak aloud. "And that's when I found out the truth. Summer was dead. They said it was an accident—a gas tank explosion at his house. But something about that didn't sit right. Summer was sharp. Too sharp for that. He would've noticed the gas leak. He would've smelled it. But he didn't. He couldn't have."
