The next morning, I stood before the mirror, rehearsing my smile.
I had to make it convincing — soft enough to hide the storm brewing inside me.
When Kael arrived, his grin was as easy as ever. "Selene," he said, handing me my usual coffee, "you look brighter today."
If only he knew.
I laughed, light and careless, masking the memory of his secret meeting. "Maybe the sun finally decided to notice me."
Inside, though, every word he spoke was weighed, dissected.
Did he sound different? Was he lying? Or had he always been lying?
That night, when he walked me home, I trailed behind by a step, memorizing the way his shoulders moved, the way his eyes scanned the streets — alert, cautious, like a man always watching his back.
When I reached my door, I kissed his cheek — the first time I'd ever dared — and whispered, "Goodnight."
He smiled, but the shadow never left his eyes.
The moment he disappeared into the street, I slipped back out. Quiet as breath.
I followed him.
Through the winding alleys, past shuttered shops, until he stopped at a dimly lit warehouse at the city's edge.
The rusted sign above the door read: "Kane & Sons Trading Company."
Kane.
The name rang in my chest like a curse.
My father had spoken of it once, years before his death. A business rival with teeth sharper than wolves.
And now Kael was walking through their doors as if he belonged.
I pressed myself against the shadows, heart racing.
The man who had saved me…
The man who made me laugh again…
Was standing hand in hand with the ghosts that had destroyed my family.
The warehouse loomed before me like a sleeping beast. Its broken windows glimmered faintly under the streetlights, and the sound of heavy metal doors echoed in the night as Kael slipped inside.
I hesitated, breath shallow. One wrong step and everything would come crashing down. But the name "Kane" clawed at my chest, dragging me forward.
I circled the building, pressing myself against the cold walls until I found a cracked window at the side. Dust clung to the glass, but through the narrow slit, I could see everything.
Kael stood inside, tense, speaking to a tall man with an aura so sharp it cut through the shadows. His suit was immaculate, his voice smooth — too smooth.
That had to be him. Morpheus Kane.
The man who had bled my father's empire dry.
I strained to catch their words, every nerve in my body tuned to the sound.
"…you should stay away from her," Morpheus said, his tone calm but edged with steel. "She's Alaric's daughter. If she learns the truth—"
"She won't," Kael snapped, sharper than I'd ever heard him. "I'll make sure of it."
My knees weakened. The truth? What truth?
Morpheus leaned closer to Kael, his voice dropping to a whisper I could barely hear.
"You can't carry both the oath and the girl, Kael. Sooner or later, you'll have to choose."
An oath? My blood turned cold. What oath tied Kael Joshua to the man who had destroyed my family?
Before I could piece it together, Kael's head turned — suddenly, violently — toward my hiding place. His eyes narrowed as if he sensed me.
I ducked down, heart thundering, praying the night would keep me hidden.
For the first time since meeting him, I realized something chilling:
Maybe Kael wasn't the man who had saved me.
Maybe he was the man sent to ruin me.