Reborn with my killer's looks-Chapter 37: Tell me something I don’t know

The office was dark now, the blinds drawn and the lights dimmed to a faint amber glow.

Reece Oxford sat across from Huey, his posture relaxed despite the tension in the room. His brown hair fell in curtains over his face, two bangs framing features that were almost too calm. Orange highlights caught what little light remained, matching the accent stitching on his black Lionheart jacket.

His eyes were closed and they’d been closed the entire time.

"Mr. Cross," Reece said, in his usually warm and conversational tone. "Thank you for joining me."

Huey glanced at the two operatives flanking his chair. Both were built like refrigerators.

"Didn’t realize I had a choice," he said.

Reece smiled. "You always have a choice and you just chose correctly."

"Where’s Vice Dean Martinez?"

"He graciously allowed me to use his office for this..... conversation." Reece leaned back in his chair. "I asked him to phrase the summons officially. I find people are more honest when they haven’t had time to prepare for what’s coming."

Huey’s jaw tightened slightly.

"Relax, Mr. Cross. This isn’t an interrogation." Reece gestured to one of the operatives. "Close the blinds completely, would you? And dim the lights a bit more."

The operative complied, killing whatever peace of mind the statement before that had brought.

The room grew darker, shadows swallowing the corners.

"Better," Reece said. "Now then. Let’s start with something simple. The field assessment three days ago; you identified Inspector Riva’s betrayal before anyone else. How?"

"Her actions." Huey said. "It was inconsistent with the standard protocol during field assessments."

"Inconsistent how?"

"She insisted on being the sole supervisor despite having no prior relationship with our cohort, diverting the oversight and leaving the students in an isolated condition" Huey kept his voice even.

"Impressive." Reece’s smile didn’t change. "And when Montez appeared with the explosives, you immediately understood it was a trap. Most students I know would’ve panicked."

"Was either I kept my head and tried to help in anyway I can or I watched my comrades die."

"True. But those strategies you pulled off, they require lot’s of information. Where did you get yours?"

"Observation. Montez’s positioning, the detonation patterns, and the fact that Riva’s portals kept putting us in worse positions." Huey paused. "It wasn’t all that complicated."

"Wasn’t it?" Reece tilted his head slightly. "Because to me, it sounds like you had insight into criminal methodology that most eighteen-year-old students wouldn’t possess."

"I read a lot of detective novels."

Reece laughed and it was genuine, warm even. "I like you, Mr. Cross."

Huey said nothing in reply, he knew what Oxford was trying to do.

"Let’s talk about the rumors," Reece continued. "Anonymous posts claiming you’re connected to the drug distribution on campus. Videos showing you with substances that injured students. What’s your response to these allegations?"

"They’re taken out of context."

"Context being?"

"I was investigating the substances, and definitely not distributing them."

"On whose authority?"

"My own."

Reece’s smile widened. "Virelia’s very own Detective. How thoughtful."

"I was just being a concerned student.’"

"Of course you were." Reece folded his hands on the desk. "And the art exhibition incident—you weren’t present when students were exposed to the purple serum. But I hear that it was organized for Achusoi. Yet you were spotted holding a vial containing the red substance."

"I confiscated it from someone who clearly didn’t know how dangerous it was."

"And you didn’t report it because...?"

"I intended to. Events escalated before I could."

"Hey, I’m just being honest here."

Reece chuckled. "You’re good at this, you know giving just enough truth to sound credible while revealing nothing of substance."

"Is that a compliment or an accusation?"

"Maybe both."

Silence settled between them.

Huey’s hands were steady on the armrests, but his mind was racing. Reece was circling, probing for weaknesses, waiting for Huey to slip.

"Tell me about your family," Reece said suddenly.

The shift in topic was jarring.

"My family?"

"Yes, The House Cross"

"Four siblings, and I’m the..... youngest." Huey hesitated.

"Let me help you finish

"Difficult childhood with your older siblings. Made you feel... isolated."

"How’d you..."

"Your father though." Reece’s tone softened.

"Atticus Cross. I for one know how much of a great man he was and that he saw you for who you were rather than what you lacked."

Huey’s breath caught.

"Must be difficult," Reece continued.

"Having him in a coma. Knowing you can’t ask him the questions you need answered."

"What does my father have to do with any of this?"

"Are you psychoanalyzing me or interrogating me?"

"Can’t it be both again?"

Huey forced himself to stay calm. "If you have a point, please make it."

Reece’s smile returned. "Just getting to know you, Mr. Cross. You’re... fascinating."

The word hung in the air.

Then Reece leaned forward slightly.

"But there are some things I can’t quite..... deduce," he said quietly. "And another thing I can’t even see."

Huey’s heart rate spiked when Reece’s eyes opened.

Huey had expected normal eyes. Maybe clouded with blindness or scarred.

What he saw instead made his breath stop.

Reece’s irises were a brilliant, burning orange, they moved and swirled, like liquid fire contained in glass. And at the center of each pupil was a pattern that looked like a compass rose, eight points radiating outward in perfect symmetry.

The pattern glowed faintly, pulsing with each heartbeat.

Above Virelia Institute, invisible to everyone except Reece Oxford, a massive eye opened in the sky.

It was the size of the institute, orange and blazing, its pupil a perfect replica of the compass rose in Reece’s own eyes.

The eye that saw everything.

Every student in every classroom. Every professor lecturing. Every whispered conversation in the hallways. Every secret hidden in locked offices.

Reece’s Crest—Absolute Perception—activated fully.

The Information flooded his mind.

Josephine Rodriguez, praying alone in the cathedral.

Calvin Esposito, sitting in the back of a Law Legion classroom, staring at his desk instead of the lecture.

Luna, taking notes on the variant physiology.

Milo DiMarco, in the East Wing, locked in the toilet and tears streaming down her face.

Alessia Cardoso, in the library, researching legal precedents.

Willy Cross, laughing with friends in the dining hall while Wheeler stole food from someone’s plate.

And deeper still....

Professor Thadeus, who seemed to be reading a book with an insignia that wasnt in any of the Empire’s archives.

An unknown figure in the commerce building, packaging purple vials into shipment boxes.

Reece saw it all.

He focused on Huey.

Normally, Absolute Perception would reveal everything. Thoughts, intentions, hidden truths.

But with Huey...

There was something missing.

A blind spot.

Like trying to see through fog.

Reece’s eyes narrowed slightly, the orange glow intensifying.

He pushed deeper.

Huey Cross. Youngest of four. Loves apples. Strained relationship with family except his father. Interested in mysteries. Defensive about his independence. Coping mechanism for childhood neglect. Intelligent. Observant. Hiding something but not lying.

And then....

Nothing.

A void where more information should be.

Reece’s eyes closed, and the massive eye in the sky vanished.

He leaned back in his chair with thoughtful expression.

Let’s do this again

"You’re the youngest of four children," he said calmly. "You like apples. You had a rough relationship with your siblings and mother, but your father understood you in ways they didn’t."

Huey’s face seemed to say ’you already established that’

"You love mystery novels. Detective stories. You’ve always seen the world as a puzzle to solve." Reece’s smile was gentle now, almost kind. "You pretend you don’t need anyone, but that’s just because you convinced yourself you didn’t want what you couldn’t have."

Hueys expression was pale now.

"And there’s one more thing," Reece interrupted. "Something I can’t see, something about you that’s... hidden."

The room went silent.

Huey’s hands gripped the armrests.

Reece stood, adjusting his jacket. "You’re free to go, Mr. Cross. You’re clean. But I’d advise staying away from scandals going forward."

Huey stood slowly. "That’s it?"

"That’s it."

Huey turned toward the door, then stopped. "If you checked the whole school, you must know who’s really behind the drug distribution."

"I do."

Huey turned back. "Who?"

Reece’s smile widened. "You are."

Huey’s eyes narrowed. "What?"

"You are going to be the one who uncovers it," Reece clarified. "It’s not my job to solve Virelia’s internal problems. But if you’re going to clear your name and prove your worth, Achusoi or not. You might as well do it yourself."

"Can I at least get a clue or something."

"I can tell you this much," Reece said. "The person you’re looking for is connected to you through someone else."

Huey stared at him. "That’s it? That’s your big clue?"

"Yep."

"I’ve interacted with hundreds of people. Those people know thousands more. How is that supposed to help?"

Reece laughed. "I’m sure you’ll figure it out. You’re smart enough."

Huey shook his head, turning back toward the door.

"Mr. Cross?"

He paused.

"When you’re done here at the university," Reece said, "there might be a place for you at Lionheart. Special Investigations and Analysis Division. Consider it."

Huey didn’t respond.

He walked out, the door closing behind him.

Reece sat back down, his eyes still closed and that small smile still on his face.

"Fascinating, just what..... Are you Huegen Cross" he murmured.

Mira Veltman pressed herself against the wall of the secluded corridor, her breath shallow.

Suzie Zhao stood ten feet away, her arms crossed and her expression cold.

"I noticed you’ve been trying to contact me and I only followed you here to tell you to stop." Suzie said flatly.

"Suzie, wait—"

"Why should I?" Suzie’s voice was sharp. "I saw what your brother did, he took over Azzuri Innovations. He has no shame."

"Quantico is no brother to me."

"Isn’t he?" Suzie took a step closer. "Half-Veltman, half-Azzuri. Same blood as you, same blood that destroyed the alliance between our houses years ago."

"Well then, I guess It’s same way you’re no sister to me."

Those words hit Mira hard

Mira’s voice cracked. "Suzie, please"

"Please what?" Suzie’s eyes were hard behind her glasses. "You want me to forget? To pretend like everything’s fine."

"I have a plan."

Suzie stopped.

Mira straightened, forcing herself to meet Suzie’s eyes. "A plan to stop Quantico. To get Azzuri Innovations back for the Zhaos."

Suzie stared at her, and the silence stretched between them.

Then Suzie adjusted her glasses. "I’m listening."