Knock. Knock.
Jason had just finished mapping out exactly how he was going to make Olivia ~the same bitch who stole his fifty thousand~pay every cent back with interest when the soft, almost hesitant knocks sounded at his door.
He frowned. Close to midnight. Who the hell was still up?
Then a familiar voice came through the wood, quiet and a little unsure.
"Jason... you awake?"
Victoria.
Jason paused with his hand on the doorknob. In his previous life, after Sarah died, he had drifted away from the Reed family until they were little more than polite acquaintances. This life was different. Sarah was alive. Everything was still possible.
He opened the door.
And stopped.
Victoria had clearly just stepped out of the shower. Her long dark hair was still damp, a few strands clinging to the side of her neck and the soft curve of her collarbone. A loose white bathrobe was belted loosely around her, the fabric gaping just enough at the top to show the smooth line of her cleavage and the faint sheen of water still on her skin. Her cheeks carried a warm flush from the heat. The scent of her body wash~something clean and lightly floral~drifted over him.
Even after everything he had lived through, Jason had to admit it: Victoria was beautiful in a way that hit harder up close. Soft. Mature. The kind of beauty that made a man notice the way the robe hugged her hips and the full shape of her breasts when she breathed.
But what really caught him was the embarrassed, almost reluctant look on her face.
"Victoria?" His voice came out lower than he intended. "Something wrong?"
She lowered her gaze, suddenly looking younger than her thirty-seven years. "A little..."
"What happened?"
"The bathroom drain is clogged."
Jason blinked. "That’s it?"
Her cheeks went pinker. "What do you mean ’that’s it’? I almost wiped out trying to fix it."
His expression sharpened. "You hurt yourself?"
"A little."
He didn’t wait for permission. He crouched down in front of her. Victoria instinctively stepped back, one hand clutching the front of her robe.
"W-wait~"
Too late. Jason had already seen the swelling around her right ankle. His brows drew together. Not broken, but definitely twisted. The skin was puffy and already starting to discolor.
"Sit down."
"It’s not that bad~"
"Sit."
The quiet authority in his voice was new. Something she had never heard from the shy college kid she remembered. For reasons she couldn’t explain, Victoria obeyed. She sat on the edge of his bed, the bathrobe sliding up her thighs a few inches before she tugged it back down.
Jason carefully lifted her foot, cradling her heel in one hand. Victoria’s breath caught. A strange, fluttering heat spread through her chest. Ever since her husband died she had handled every broken thing in this house alone~furniture, groceries, pipes, wiring. No one had ever told her to sit down and let them take care of it. Not once.
Tonight Jason had done it like it was the most natural thing in the world.
He examined the ankle with careful fingers, then noticed the cluster of small blisters on the sole of her foot. His expression softened.
"These are from running up eleven flights of stairs today, aren’t they?"
Victoria looked away. "A little."
"A little?" Jason gave a short, incredulous laugh. "You ran all the way to the rooftop in high heels."
She bit her lip, guilt flickering across her face. At the hospital the adrenaline had masked everything. Now that it was gone, her feet were paying the price.
"Stay right here."
He stood and disappeared down the hall. A couple of minutes later he came back with ice wrapped in a clean towel. He knelt again and gently pressed the cold compress against her swollen ankle.
Victoria sucked in a sharp breath. "Cold~"
"Good. Means it’s working."
He kept the pressure steady, one hand holding the ice in place, the other resting lightly against her calf to keep her leg still. The room went quiet except for the low hum of the air conditioner and the soft sound of their breathing. Victoria found herself watching him from under her lashes. The young man kneeling in front of her didn’t look like the awkward boy who used to blush when girls talked to him. He looked older. Steady. Like someone who had already lived enough life to know how to take care of people.
The thought startled her. She looked away quickly.
After a few minutes Jason spoke without lifting his eyes from her ankle.
"Victoria."
"Hmm?"
"If anything else breaks in this house, you call me. Don’t try to fix it yourself."
"I can handle it~"
"No." His voice was calm but firm. "I’m the only man in this house right now. Sarah’s sick. Emma’s buried in schoolwork. Sophia’s not even home. You don’t have to carry every single thing by yourself anymore."
Victoria’s throat tightened. Those words landed somewhere deep and long-ignored. For years she had carried everything alone~so long that she had almost forgotten what it felt like to have someone else take part of the weight. She turned her face away so he wouldn’t see the sudden shine in her eyes.
After a moment she nodded once. "Okay."
The air between them felt warmer. Charged.
Jason finally stood. "Let me go clear that drain."
Victoria’s embarrassment came rushing back. "The bathroom’s a mess~"
He actually laughed, low and easy. "Victoria, it’s a bathroom. They’re supposed to be messy."
He disappeared into the hall bathroom. The problem was simple~a thick clog of hair. Ten minutes of work and the water was draining fine again. As the last of it swirled away, the familiar mechanical voice sounded in his head.
**[Ding!]**
**[Mission Completed.]**
**[Reward: $4,000.]**
Jason’s mouth curved. His balance was finally starting to look respectable. The medical bills were still a mountain, but at least he was climbing.
When he stepped back into the bedroom, Victoria was still sitting on the edge of his bed, bare legs crossed, the bathrobe loosely belted. She looked up, relief clear on her face.
"Fixed."
"Thank you."
"No problem."
He turned to leave, but her voice stopped him.
"Jason."
He glanced back. "Yeah?"
Victoria hesitated, then gave him a soft smile that held gratitude and something quieter she didn’t seem ready to name.
"Thank you for today. Not just the drain. Everything."
He understood. She meant the rooftop. Sarah. The fact that he had gotten there in time.
Jason’s expression gentled. "We’re family."
The word landed harder than either of them expected. Victoria’s heart gave a small, traitorous flutter.
Jason lifted a hand in a casual wave. "Get some sleep. Night."
"Goodnight."
The door clicked shut.
Victoria stayed where she was, staring at the closed door. Sleep felt a long way off. Her thoughts kept circling back to the way he had lifted her foot like it weighed nothing, the steady pressure of his hands, the quiet way he had told her she didn’t have to do everything alone. A slow, unfamiliar warmth spread through her chest and settled low in her stomach.
Across the hall, Jason dropped onto his own bed and checked his phone. The system reward had already posted. Domain names secured. Sarah safe. Momentum finally moving in the right direction.
Tomorrow he would start dismantling Olivia’s carefully built little world.
He was just about to set the phone down when it vibrated in his hand.
Unknown number.
Jason’s eyes narrowed as he opened the message.
One line only:
**I heard you’re looking into Olivia . If you want evidence, meet me tomorrow.**
He sat up slowly, a sharp little smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.
Someone out there already knew what he was planning.
And they knew more than they should.
Interesting.
Very interesting.