LOGINTaren's POVI leaned in to kiss Kaela. My hand was on her cheek, and I could feel the warmth of her skin. But before my lips could touch hers, my phone rang. I pulled back and looked at the screen and saw it was Katarina. I felt my jaw tighten. Kaela saw the name too. Her eyes went cold, and she pulled away from me.I put the phone on speaker and answered. "What do you want?"Katarina's voice came through, smooth and full of false sweetness. "Hello, Taren. I hope I'm not interrupting anything important.""Get to the point," I said."I have information about your mother," she said. Her tone changed. It wasn't sweet anymore. "I know who she met before she disappeared. I know where she went and why. But if you want that information, you'll do something for me."I felt as if my heart dropped. My mother had been gone for years. Every lead had gone nowhere. Every search had ended in nothing. And now Katarina was dangling answers in front of me like bait."What do you want?" I asked again.
Kaela's POVI sensed someone was following me as I walked back to the hotel. The street was quiet, but every time my shoe hit the pavement, I heard a second sound behind me. Softer. Like someone trying to be silent and failing. My skin felt tight and cold. I didn't turn around to look. If I did, they might run at me. I kept my head down and walked faster. My heart started hitting my ribs like a trapped bird.I saw a narrow alleyway between two brick buildings. It was dark, but I thought I could lose them in the shadows. I quickened my pace and darted inside, only to find the path ended at a tall chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. I turned around, breathing hard. Two shadows stood at the entrance of the alley. They were tall and moving slowly toward me. I looked for a weapon, a piece of wood, a heavy stone, but the ground was clear.Just as panic started to rise in my throat, Taren appeared out of nowhere. His hand grabbed my arm and pulled me through a small, heavy door I had
Kaela's POVRhett summoned me to his study and handed me an asset transfer agreement as a "token of good faith." I stood by the door for a moment, watching him sit behind the heavy desk. The room smelled like expensive wood and old paper. He looked up at me with a soft, tired expression that I now knew was fake. He pushed a stack of papers across the desk toward me. His hand stayed on top of the pile for a second, as if he were giving away something precious."I want you to know you can trust me, Kaela," he said. "This is for you. It’s a start."I picked up the documents and began to read. It included a luxury apartment in the centre of the city, several high-end watches, and a small number of stocks in a secondary company. I turned the pages slowly, my face showing no emotion. In my head, I was doing the math. This apartment was worth two million. The watches were another few hundred thousand. To most people, this was a fortune. But I knew the truth about my family’s money.These i
Kaela's POVI threw myself into preparing for the Werewolf Aviation Technology Showcase. The studio became my entire world. I slept on the small couch in the corner and lived off black coffee. Taren hadn't reappeared after the night he left those papers in the dark. I didn't look at them. My mind was focused on the wing designs, the engine specs, and the survival of the legacy my parents left behind. If this showcase had failed, I would have lost everything.While Taren stayed away, Rhett practically moved into the Werewolf Studio. Every single day, the heavy doors would open, and he would walk in with bags of food. He brought my favourite onion soup, fresh strawberries, and bowls of lobster bisque. He would set them down on the edge of the drafting table and watch me with anxious eyes. He looked like he was waiting for me to break, or perhaps waiting for me to tell him he was my hero again."You need to eat, Kaela," he said one afternoon, pushing a bowl of soup toward me. "You’re
Taren's POVI looked at my phone for the twentieth time in an hour. Every call to Kaela went unanswered. I hit the button again. Straight to voicemail. I didn't leave a message this time. I just gripped the phone until my knuckles turned white.She wasn't picking up because she didn't want to talk to me. She was done. She probably thought I was the one causing all her pain, while Rhett was the hero who saved her life. But something about that accident felt wrong. It was too perfect. Rhett was always in the right place at the right time lately.I tossed the phone onto my desk. I couldn't stop thinking about how Rhett looked when he "saved" her. He looked too ready. He didn't look surprised. He looked like he'd been waiting for it."He's a liar," I whispered to the empty room.I didn't just want to believe it. I needed to prove it. I picked up the office phone and called Marcus, my head of security."I need every bit of camera footage from near that café," I told him. "Check the street
Kaela's POVI returned to the hotel and sat by the floor to ceiling window. The glass was cold, and the city lights below looked like tiny, scattered jewels. The phone in my hand felt unusually heavy. Taren’s apology text was still there, glowing on the screen. The white light of the phone felt sharp in the dark room.He claimed he had concealed the truth. He said he did it because he did not want to drag me into the darkness. But he already pulled me. All his effort felt vain to me. In his mind, the truth was a dark, heavy thing that would hurt me.I sat there for a long time, watching the distant headlights of cars moving through the streets like slow-moving stars. I believed that Taren had good intentions. I knew he wanted to protect me But knowing that did not make the pain go away. I could not forgive the lies. I trusted him and believed him.My heart burned with anger. It was a hot, tight feeling in my chest that made it difficult to breathe. I hated being deceived. I felt lik







