The Last Time I Cried Your Name novel Chapter 374

Laura’s face went sheet white under the harsh glare of the searchlights.

Her black bucket hat dropped to the ground, and her glossy, jet-black hair whipped around her face, caught in the cold night wind. For a moment it looked wild, almost supernatural. Her deep amber eyes flickered with terror as she lunged for the mask lying in the dirt.

Jay, standing over her, set his black hiking boot right on top of the mask.

He didn’t have to say anything. The message was clear, and it hit Laura hard—there was no point in pretending anymore.

“How did you find out?” Her voice shook, panic rising in every syllable. If Jay knew, then Franco definitely knew.

“Franco… did he…”

Jay didn’t let her finish. “Franco sent me to wait for you here. What do you think?”

Laura pushed herself up from the wet ground, her pale hands digging into the mud. The rain from earlier in the day had soaked Cabinda’s outskirts, and her carefully manicured nails were now stained with dirt.

Jay’s words washed over her, but she barely heard them. Her mind was buzzing. It felt like everything had gone numb, and icy fear crawled over her skin.

“What are you talking about… How would he know? There’s no way. He can’t know!” Her voice went from confused to frantic to completely unhinged as she stared up at Jay.

“That alone wouldn’t be enough,” he admitted. “You’re supposed to be unable to walk, right? How could you have shown up at the market? Unless your legs work perfectly fine. At first I wondered how you got out of The Glades without anyone seeing. Then Franco and I remembered the Lane family house had a secret way out.”

Jay looked toward the low bridge she’d just crawled out of.

They’d known for years that the Lane family villa had a hidden passage. After Gavin lost everything, the house ended up with the bank. No one bought it, and the place stayed locked up.

When Franco was seventeen, his mother’s family bought it at auction for him. But he never did anything with the house.

Five years ago, Franco took Petty to that island and told Jay to get The Glades ready. That’s when Jay found the secret passage by accident.