Page 145 of Under Construction

"I can't tell you now, but if you give me time—"

"Time?" Dennis's voice cracks. "How much more do you need?"

He shakes his head and turns for the door but Chris catches his arm.

"I just—I don't wanna put you in danger, Denny."

Dennis rolls his eyes so hard his head hurts. "Still think I'm some rookie who needs supervision?"

"No, Denny, that's not it. But you don't know him. He's evil. You have no idea what he's capable of—"

"He put down a great offer after my investors bailed—the ones that took me ages to get, by the way. Without him, we'd be bankrupt." The lie tastes sweet, watching it land.

Chris grinds the heels of his hands into his eyes. "Shit shit shit." He returns to stuffing things in his bag with renewed urgency.

Dennis is in total disbelief.Wow.

"You're really leaving? Just like that?"

“Dennis, I can’t do this right now, okay?! I need— I need time.”

Time, time, time. Always time. Never answers.

"Fine." The fight drains from him. Everything points to Chris anyway. He won't waste another second here.

“Denn–”

“Just go.”

Chris shoulders his bags, keys jingling. As he passes, Dennis keeps his eyes forward, but Chris pauses. "If anything we had ever meant anything to you, please wait for me."

The nerve of this one. “You’re so dead to me, Christopher.”

Chris's jaw clenches, shoulders rising and falling with one strained breath. Without another word, he walks out, leaving the door open behind him.

The ukulele sits abandoned by the window. Something twists in Dennis's chest. He can't leave it here—won't examine why—but he takes it home with him anyway.

Somehow he feels it’s wrong to just leave it behind.

45Devil’s In The Details

The days after Chris leaves blur into an endless stream of letters and signatures. Dennis camps out at the site office with Jason, poring over every permit, blueprint, material order, and construction report. The east wing's cordoned off now, leaving the site eerily quiet—just them, the legal team, and where there used to be the constant buzz of workers.

No matter how many times he reviews the documents, the evidence keeps pointing at Chris. His father's suspicions about Lancaster, his mother's defense of Chris—none of it changes what's right in front of him.

Dennis rubs his eyes, vision going fuzzy from lack of sleep. His stomach protests loudly, but he ignores it, just like he's been ignoring the bed in his apartment.

The legal team builds their case steadily, but even with mounting evidence against Chris, it won't be enough to save Dennis's part of the company. He'll still have to sell to prevent bankruptcy.

Mr. Lancaster checks in daily, never pressuring Dennis about his offer. He's even pulled strings at city hall so they have access to the site office—officially, to retrieve their belongings.

It’s a relief and Dennis feels like he should be thankful.

Maybe his father was wrong about the man. As for what Chris said about him…

Well, trusting Chris's word about anything seems foolish now.

But something Mr. Lancaster said echoes in his head:"You're exactly the type he targets—talented, trusting, with something to destroy."

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