Zac and I entered my house around nine o' clock the next morning.

It was a Tuesday. A school day. First period at Ashton Wellesley kicked off well over an hour ago, but, now that I'd experienced firsthand what it felt like to ditch class, violations like being late or missing school felt laughably insignificant compared to the brutal crimes Zac and I recently stumbled upon.

Perhaps, my newfound indifference was also fueled by the fact that I knew I'd very likely be withdrawing from Ashton Wellesley in two weeks. This rebellious attitude worried me.

Was I turning into a delinquent?

Still, old habits died hard. Even though my personal life was a fucking mess, even though school rules no longer ruled my decision-making process, I still wanted to ace my exams in the final week and round out my GPA somewhere in the top ten. Stanford apps were the least of my concerns at the moment, but I didn't want to shoot my future in the foot by neglecting my studies altogether. Thus, I intended to wrap up this rendezvous with my dad as soon as possible so we could make it back to campus for third or fourth period.

As Zac and I walked through the foyer, I heard my dad's voice call out from further inside the house, "Come to the study, Cate. I want a word with you."

I shouted back, "Coming, dad!"

Instinctively, I reached for Zac's hand. He gripped onto me tightly as we headed towards my dad's study together. I wasn't going to lie. The short walk over felt a little like a death march. We entered the doorway to my dad's study.

My dad arched his eyebrow at the sight of Zac. "I see you decided to bring him, after all."

"Only because you owe us, the both of us, some real answers," I spit bluntly.

He turned to Zac and greeted him with a face devoid of emotion, "Good morning, Zachary."

Zac shrank under the weight of my dad's penetrating gaze. "Good morning, Mr. Hayes. Sir."

With a deep sigh—as though he was the one being inconvenienced by us—my dad proceeded to gesture at the two armchairs situated on the other side of his desk. "Take a seat."

Obediently, Zac and I sank down into the armchairs. I gulped when I saw my flash drive sitting on my dad's desk. The very one that was sheltering all of Walter Sinclair's stolen data. Dismay darkened my mood. I was pretty sure that my dad had figured out what we had done to get our grubby hands on those files.

My dad rested his elbows upon the surface of his desk. Then, he steepled his fingers, literally, like a goddamn cartoon villain. I would have laughed at the ridiculousness of it all if I wasn't feeling so anxious and nervous.

"Let me be clear, Cate. Zachary. The main reason I'm meeting with the two of you today is because you've given me no choice. From what I've observed thus far, you're both far too headstrong to know your limits, and I don't want you to continue chasing after problems that are beyond your ability to resolve. At this point, it seems both of you have uncovered just enough about the case I'm working on to put it in jeopardy. Yet, you don't know nearly enough about the severity of the situation to keep your mouths shut and stop prying. Even when it's for your own safety."

He glared at Zac and tapped on the flash drive. "I know full well that my daughter doesn't possess the technical skills to hack into a highly secured computer like the one Walter owns. You, however, should be aware that hackers serve up to ten years in prison for their first offense. You may be a minor at the moment, but, I assure you, it wouldn't be difficult for me to find a judge who will try you as an adult if you pull this type of underhanded maneuver again. Do we have an understanding, Zachary?"

Zac flushed and grunted, "Yes, sir."

My dad turned to me with a scowl. "As for you, Cate, I've never seen you disregard rules and regulations in such a blatant manner before. Skipping school. Sneaking out in the middle of the night. I hope, after our discussion today, you'll reflect on your behavior and take the necessary actions to right all of your wrongs over the past few days. If this sort of nonsense flares up again, then I won't hesitate to discipline you. Swiftly and severely. I trust I've made myself clear."

I coughed indignantly. "Like crystal."

"At any rate," my dad continued, switching back to Zac again, "I'm sure, Zachary, you've sensed by now that I don't approve of your relationship with my—"

"Dad, you mentioned that you're working on a case right now," I piped up in an attempt to pull his attention away from railing at us and back onto more relevant matters. "Does it have something to do with Mr. Mazur? Or Mr. Sinclair?"

My dad's scowl deepened. I knew he hated being interrupted. "I wasn't done speaking to Zachary, Cate."

"Well, if you're just gonna sit there and make us feel like shit for the next hour, then Zac and I might as well leave for school and continue poking our noses into your business. You said it yourself. We're far too headstrong to know our limits, right? I'm sure we could wreak quite a bit of havoc for you if we put our minds to it. So, I'll ask you one more time, Dad, does your case have something to do with Mr. Sinclair or Mr. Mazur? If you don't answer the question, then we're done here."

My dad's mouth tightened into a grimace. He responded in clipped tones, "Indirectly? Yes. Directly? No."

He obviously didn't like being spoken to in such a flippant manner, but, surprisingly, he actually caved to my strongarming tactics. If anything, I could've sworn that I saw a glimmer of pride in his eyes.

Huh.

For a second there, I wondered, then, if I'd made the wrong call these past six years by pretending to be a sweet, docile, accommodating daughter when my dad actually preferred a sparring partner?

I continued to press him, "Who are you really going after, then?"

"Four years ago, my team and I were only able to gather enough evidence to arrest Timothy Mazur on charges of insider trading."

I furrowed my brow. He didn't answer my question, but this information was good to know. If what my dad claimed was true, then Lily hadn't been lying, after all, about our dads working together to build a case against Zac's dad.

Shit.

"You helped to put Zac's dad in prison?"

My dad nodded without a trace of remorse. "I did."

My skin prickled with distress. From the corner of my eye, I saw Zac's fists clenching and unclenching in his lap. He looked understandably ill. I hated that my dad had done this to my boyfriend's father. I could only hope that Zac wouldn't hold it against me.

"But you and your team succeeded. Mr. Mazur is in prison. Who are you going after now?"

My dad paused. With some reluctance, he replied, "Harvey Waldron—"

My eyes widened. Zac's jaw dropped. We gasped at the same time. "What?"

"Along with a few other individuals you might recognize, but they're not relevant to delve into at the moment. Harvey has always been top priority for my department. He was the one who orchestrated and profited most from Timothy Mazur's insider trading activities, but we couldn't touch him. As the CEO of Wyman & Rimmel, his deep ties to powerful politicians and elites shielded him from our investigations. I've been working extremely hard to build my case against him over the past few years. My team is close to a breakthrough. This is why I absolutely need you two to stay out of our way. I humbly ask the both of you, don't compromise my opportunity to make a criminal of Harvey Waldron's caliber answer for his many, many despicable crimes."