Chapter 1920

Fiona didn't hesitate-she tipped her drink back and finished it in one go.

"What about Tyler?" she asked.

"He said the contestant files he was looking into just came in," Jane replied.

"Alright, I'll go see him."

Fiona set her glass down, nodded to Jane, and together they headed for Tyler's office.

Inside, Tyler was flipping through the files on the other contestants. Nothing seemed off—until he got to Jean. There were a few recent, hefty deposits in her bank account.

That definitely caught his attention.

"Can you see who sent the money?" Fiona asked.

Tyler tapped the last line on Jean's profile. It read: The Woods family.

What did the Woods have to do with this? And how was Jackson involved again?

No answers-just more confusion. It was enough to wipe out whatever feelings she'd had for him.

"Got it. Jean can be our alternate," Fiona decided.

"Are you sure about that?" Jane frowned. "Her background seems messy now."

If Jean was compromised, they couldn't risk letting her compete.

"It's fine," Fiona said, her voice steady.

If Jackson wouldn't give her the truth, she'd find it herself. There had to be something—some clue.

Back at her apartment, Fiona looked around. Everything reminded her of Jackson even the things he'd left behind felt heavy. The air was thick, almost suffocating.

But she didn't cry. She didn't make a scene. Quietly, she gathered up all of Jackson's things, packed them away, and carried everything down to the dumpster.

Then she called a cleaning service. While she waited, she stood at the window with a cup of coffee, watching the crew haul away the trash. Only when the garbage truck pulled away did she hear the door-cleaners had arrived.

They scrubbed every inch of the apartment, just as she'd asked. Everything except the furniture was tossed or replaced with something new.

By the time they finished, there was no trace of Jackson left.

The cleaning took until three in the morning.

When it was over, it almost felt like she was moving in for the first time. Jasmine had given her this place—it was the only reason she'd stayed so long.

She looked around, breathing in the fresh, clean air. It smelled just like it had the day she first arrived.

She grabbed a beer from the fridge, loaded up on snacks, and settled in to watch a movie. She munched quietly, alone with her thoughts.

It felt like everything was starting over.

The next morning, Tyler showed up with breakfast. He didn't ask why she hadn't gone to the Woods estate last night, or why she hadn't o mentioned Jackson. He just let it be.

Fiona had given him a spare key. When he walked in and saw her asleep on the couch, he quietly

cleaned up the mess, started a fresh

pot of coffee, and boiled some

water.

By the time Fiona woke up, rubbing her eyes, he was already moving around the kitchen.

"What are you doing here?" she mumbled.

"My flight's this afternoon. I tried calling, but you didn't answer, so I figured I'd check in."

Fiona glanced at her phone: 9:00 a.m.

She checked her messages, almost out of habit. Still nothing.

"Alright. I'm going to get ready. I'll stop by campus afterward," she said.

"I already let the school know you'd be out today."

Without looking back, Fiona said, "Jean graduated from Center College too."

She wanted to dig through the archives-maybe there was something there she'd missed.

Actually, besides Jean, the other

three contestants had all attended of

Center College as well. But none them had actually graduated; they only had proof of admission. Jean was the only one with both an admission letter and a diploma. Cóntent