Under the Veil I Rule (Amara) novel Chapter 390

His first thought was Liliana. She had every reason to start this—if rumors that he liked Amara reached Finnian, knowing how much Finnian cared for Amara, Finnian would never trust him again.

And if that happened, when he told Finnian about Liliana faking her pregnancy, Finnian probably wouldn’t believe him either. That was Liliana’s game: slowly chipping away at his credibility in Finnian’s eyes.

Hogan remembered the look Finnian had given him at the coffee shop earlier—a chill crept through him.

No, absolutely not. Whether or not Liliana was behind this, he had to warn her. He pulled out his phone and typed a message: “Seven days left.”

Seven days. In other words, there were only seven days left before filming wrapped up—a deadline he and Liliana had set together.

If Liliana didn’t come clean to Finnian about her fake pregnancy before then, Hogan would do it himself.

Liliana replied almost immediately: “I know.” She put her phone aside, her fingers—tipped with scarlet polish—drumming lightly on the armrest of the sofa.

A cold smile curled at her lips.

She’d been planning this for days, and now the rumor about Hogan and Amara was everywhere. The results were better than she’d hoped; the story had even gotten back to her. She’d also heard that Finnian had caught Hogan and Amara together today. No doubt Finnian’s trust in Hogan was dwindling fast.

Her lips curled a little higher as she typed out another message to Hogan:

“Heard something interesting today—everyone’s saying you’re into Amara. That can’t be true, right? I mean, she’s really not your type. Want me to help you track down who started this? Let me know.”

Hogan scowled at the message.

He used to think of Liliana as family. But if she couldn’t even be that, then he owed her nothing. No more guilt.

He grabbed his keys and headed to the office. When he found that Finnian wasn’t there, he made his way straight to the Everly family’s old estate.

At the mansion, he asked one of the staff where Finnian was.

“Mr. Everly is in the kitchen,” the maid replied.

Hogan paused, curious. What was Finnian doing in the kitchen? He wandered over, and as he reached the glass door, he caught sight of what was happening inside—and his eyes went wide.