Page 154 of Forgotten Prejudice

He grinned. “That’s right.”

What was this guy on?

“Anyway, we met at the hospital. I used to work there as a cleaner, and among other things, I had a tendency to look into people’s stuff.” He scratched his chin. “I guess that was why I got fired… But hey, I mostly only looked and only sometimes took.”

Oh my God, now I knew why he felt familiar. He was an older, less cute version of Jessie.

“Anyway, while I still worked there, I met Soren, and we hung out for a few weeks. It was a nice way to pass the time during my shifts. That guy’s smart as fuck, you know? Half the time, I had no idea what he was talking about.”

My forehead creased while I tried to process what he was saying and focus on the important parts. “What was Soren doing in the hospital?”

“What all the other patients in a psychiatric ward do. Stare at the wall while trying to get better,” he snorted. “The wall thing was a joke, of course—don’t get offended.” He went on mumbling crap, completely unaware of what his words had just done to me.

For a second, I wasn’t sure what to think because my heart stopped and my breath caught. Did he just say psychiatric ward?

“Psychiatric ward?” I asked, voice weak.

Eiv’s smile immediately dropped as he looked at me with wide eyes. “Oh shit,” he gasped, perking up on the bench. “Did I ramble too much? I mean, I was sure you knew about it.”

“Knew about what?” I urged while rubbing my palms over my pants.

“About his nervous breakdown.” He swallowed hard. “I mean, he was in there for almost three months, and from what I understood, it was right after the time you two broke up, so I assumed you’d have at least known.”

I hadn’t known. Not until right this second when a complete stranger told me that the man I’d dated and lived with for almost eight years, the man I used to love and probably still did, had gone through a mental breakdown, followed by a stay in a psychiatric hospital. My entire body trembled with this new information, and not knowing what to do with myself, I began chewing on the tip of my nail.

Eiv mentioned it happened soon after Soren and I split up, so could it be the reason—no. I shouldn’t jump to conclusions before speaking to Soren and hearing what he had to say. This wasn’t the time for me to even be thinking back on those days, but the need to know burned inside me like the need to take my next breath. The idea that I’d walked around the world for seven long years without understanding the true reason behind our breakup made me feel both angry and hopeful. Hopeful? Why? Why was it hope that flared in my heart? There were still so many questions to ask, so many things to discuss—

The door to the office slammed open, and out walked a furious Christian Rogers.

“You’ll regret this,” he hissed while pointing his finger at—

Soren.

“I think I can handle a few more regrets,” Soren said with an easy smile.

I jumped to my feet at the sight of him. So overwhelmed, I almost bumped into Christian, who stormed down the hall like a beast set on its prey. Not that I cared about him when my eyes were locked on Soren, who had lost his smile the moment he noticed me. His brows pulled into an immediate sulk, and he was ready to walk back inside the room when I called for him.

“Not now, Ashton,” he said, his voice giving me the same closed-off vibe as the other night.

“Wait,” I tried again, walking faster to catch up to him when I stumbled on my feet and crashed forward. I would have fallen flat on my face if not for him stopping me with two steady hands. There was a second there in which neither of us moved, a second of me being in his arms, in his proximity. What I felt wasn’t cold but warmth, like the summer I’d been missing for years. The nostalgic feeling was quick to disappear after Soren removed his arms from around me.

“I need to talk to you,” I said, eyes begging.

“Now is not a good time.” He tried moving away when I grabbed his arm.

“Please, Soren, it’s important.”

He stopped to pin me with a harsh look that made me shrink into myself. But then he grabbed my arm and pulled me into a room, closing the door behind us. It looked like a library, and I quickly scanned the empty space when he sighed, the sound catching my attention.

“What’s so important that it couldn’t wait until later?”

Us.

The same word I’d feared from years ago returned to me at once, only now, it didn’t fill me with dread. But before I asked the question I wanted the answer to most in the world, I reminded myself that it was no longer just the two of us and that right now, there were bigger things to care about.

“Is Shay-Lee really going to testify?”

“Yes.”