"So the guy who spent the night with Emma Woods in that cave wasn't you?"
Andres looked like he was ready to swear an oath to the heavens.
"If I actually went through something like that, there's no way I wouldn't have a single memory of it."
"I did go to Hex Hollow once, and maybe I really did run into a local girl who got splashed by a car."
"But my schedule was insane. We had to visit ten different schools in three days. Where would I find the time to date someone?"
"I was only there for three days and two nights, and both nights I shared a room with Michael Perez."
"I remember it vividly to this day, because there was nowhere to shower."
"When Michael took his shoes off, the smell of his sweaty feet almost killed me on the spot."
"For two nights straight, I had to sleep through the toxic fumes of his foul feet."
"Bitten by a spider? Staying in a cave? Cuddling a local girl in the dark?"
"Unless there's an alternate universe, none of this exists in my memory."
Maeve rubbed her chin thoughtfully, then asked:
"If you roomed with Michael, does that mean Corbin Shaw roomed with Landon Hart?"
Andres nodded. "Yes. They were right next door."
The living conditions there had been outrageously bad, and Michael had complained about it non-stop.
"Speaking of the rain..."
Andres paused, a memory surfacing. "I do remember there was a massive rainstorm one of those nights."
A sudden realization hit him.
"I remember now! On the night of the heavy storm, Landon never came back to the room."
Corbin had even come over to ask him and Michael if they knew where Landon had gone to mess around.
His phone was off, his texts went unanswered. Landon was missing for an entire night.
Maeve reminded him:
"At Corbin's party, Landon let it slip that someone once told him you were destined for greatness. Do you think he'd be jealous of that?"
"Let me give you a harsh truth: the only people in this world who genuinely want the absolute best for you are the parents who raised you."
"Relatives, friends, and even partners might not always be completely wholehearted."
"When real interests are on the line, all that sincerity can easily turn out to be an illusion."
Looking back on that trip now, Andres completely believed Maeve's theory.
Because when Master Moreno had first suggested he go to Hex Hollow to make donations, Landon was the very first person to volunteer to go with him.
Michael and Corbin had zero interest in the trip initially.
It was only because Landon pushed for it that they all ended up going.
Landon, oh Landon. To take me down, you really will stop at nothing.

Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Divorce Failed My Wife's Secret Identities Shock the World