Chapter 5

The night was quiet. We were on the balcony again, sitting side by side, not saying much. The wind brushed past slowly, just enough to make the trees rustle a little. The sky looked clearer than usual, stars scattered everywhere, shining so bright. Making me imagine if my life shines as bright as the star. Or maybe it would have been better if I were a star.  

There was a soft glow from the garden lights, and I pulled the blanket tighter around my legs.

Benjamin sat beside me, holding a glass of wine. He hadn't spoken much after dinner. He was always calm, always in control. But tonight felt different. There was something in the air, and I could feel it.

Then he finally spoke.

"You know..." he said quietly, eyes staring ahead, "the first time I saw you was in college."

I turned to him. "Hmm."

He nodded. "You were walking down the hallway. You had this soft smile on your face. I thought you were smiling at me... and my heart did something weird. It jumped. Like, really jumped. I had never felt that before."

I blinked, caught off guard. "Wait... what?"

He gave a soft laugh, but there was something sad in it. "Yeah. I thought you were smiling at me. But then you walked past me... and hugged Daniel."

My chest tightened.

"I turned around and saw you both kissing," he continued, voice low. "That's when I knew you weren't smiling at me. You were smiling at him. And that was it. I told myself to forget about you, you were taken already... but I couldn't."

I didn't know what to say. My mouth opened a little, but no words came out.

"Every time I saw you after that, I couldn't help it. I stared," he said, voice soft, almost like a confession.

"The way you walked, the way you talked. My eyes just followed you. I never looked at any girl the way l looked at you."

He paused, swirling the wine in his glass slowly.

"So when Mr. Blackwood invited me to your wedding...

I didn't want to go at first."

I looked at him. "Why?"

"I didn't want to watch the girl I've admired for years become someone else's wife. But I told myself maybe... maybe if I saw you marry him with my own eyes, l'd finally move on."

He looked at me then. His eyes were steady but distant. "But fate had another plan."

I held my breath.

"I went out for a cigarette... and saw you lying there, bleeding near the pool. Your white dress, soaked in blood." He turned his head. "I knew it was something bad the moment I saw you alone like that. I ran to you. Check your pulse. You were still breathing. Barely. I called an ambulance."

And now, here we are.

My hand tightened around the blanket. My throat ached, but I couldn't cry. I just nodded.

He didn't say more after that. We sat in silence, the sound of the wind filling the space between us.

Then I turned to him. "What about your family? You're always alone."

I noticed the way his jaw clenched at my question. His whole face shifted like I had touched a place he didn't want opened. But he looked at the night sky again and spoke.

"I was ten years old when my mom died," he said.

I stayed still, listening.

"She caught my dad cheating. She followed him to a hotel. She saw him walk in with another woman. And… I saw it too. I was standing right there."

My heart dropped.

"She didn't say a word. She turned and walked straight to the car. Got in. I followed her, got into the back seat. She started driving. Fast. Too fast. She was crying so hard she could barely see."

His voice broke slightly but he kept talking.

"I remember calling her name. Begging her to slow down. She just kept muttering things under her breath.

And then... Everything went dark. The crash happened."

I couldn't speak.

"When I opened my eyes, the car was upside down. I was still strapped in. I looked over... and she was there, bleeding. I called her name over and over but she didn't answer. I passed out again... and when I woke up in the hospital, they told me she was dead."

Tears stung my eyes. "I'm so sorry."

He gave a stiff nod. "After that, I hated my father. I blamed him. I still do. I started therapy. PTSD. I couldn't sleep for years."

He glanced at me, then looked down at his hands. "I started Grey Global when I was twenty. I didn't want anything from my father. I built it from scratch. And now... my company is bigger than his."

I watched him in silence. Trying to hold the tears that were coming.

"I haven't spoken to him in years. The only time I see his face is on the news when he signs business deals."

I whispered, "That's why you always stay alone."

He gave a faint smile. "Yeah. I don't have anyone else."

I felt a strange ache inside me. I looked at him and said, "We actually have something in common."

He raised a brow. "Yeah?"

I nodded. "I was abandoned by my mom. When I was ten. She took me to the beach, said she'd be right back... and she never came back."

Benjamin stared at me, eyes quiet.

"I waited for her for three days. I didn't eat. I barely drank water. I thought maybe she'd forgotten something and would come back for me. But she didn't."

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I passed out and woke up in a hospital. The Blackwoods had found me.

They took me in. But the damage was already done. I never forgot my mom. And she never came for me."

The pain was in my chest again. Tight and heavy.

"She never told me who my dad was. Not even a name. I don't even know if he's alive or if he even knows I exist. And now, I don't know if my mother is alive as well."

We both went quiet. The silence wasn't awkward. It was heavy with shared pain.

He looked at me, his eyes softer now. "I guess we're both just two people trying to survive."

I nodded. "Yeah. That's what it feels like."

A long pause passed. The breeze brushed my hair against my face. I tucked it behind my ear.

Then I looked at him. "I need to get a perfect revenge on Lucy and Daniel."

His brows lifted slightly, but he didn't interrupt.

"I need the world to know what they did to me. How they hurt me. I need people to see their true faces."

Benjamin stared at me for a long moment. And then he said, "And I will help you."

And right then, I knew I wasn't alone anymore.