CYNTHIA's P O V

Immediately after dinner, Jake went straight to his room. He told me over dinner that my brother wasn’t home yet, but he’s already here in New York. I had no idea where he was, but according to Jake, he was working to resolve some important matters, and that I didn’t have to worry about him.

I had been sitting in the living room, scrolling through my phone, when I noticed a message coming from Alex.

‘‘I'm sorry, there was an unexpected emergency ...