INICIAR SESIÓNKane’s POV
Olivia’s eyes pinned intently on the mask. Hovering on it like she was a detective or something.
“Are you okay?” I asked, closing the gap between us.
I could sense the rage emanating from Cynthia as I went on one knee, an inch away from the woman I loved and betrayed.
“What are you doing?” Cynthia asked from behind, her anger surfing through her words.
Still Olivia held on to father’s mask, staring at it like she’d seen a ghost.
I took the mask gently from Olivia’s hand. And stretched it up for the servant to retrieve it from me and place it back into the box.
“I’m sorry boss.. I’m sorry ma’am.” The worker said nervously, as he stood glued to a spot.
Earlier when Olivia came over to the manor, she wouldn’t let me get close to her. But for some reasons, here I was an inch to her and she wasn’t repulsive.
But when I removed the mask from her grasp, our hands brushed and I felt that tingling sensation she always made me feel.
Olivia Benson was a lot of things, and that made me sway to her.
There was something quite unsettling today about her. That much I could tell, but what exactly?
And why did she come to the manor all of a sudden after I’d been trying to reach her for weeks?
“Does the mask seem familiar or something?” I asked, trying to start a conversation with her.
“No.” She said sharply, finding her feet as she dusted her hands on her knees.
Olivia towers over me, looking down at me as her hair fell to a side. She looked miraculously beautiful, and it made me bite down on my lower lip.
I’d cheated on her with Cynthia, and I knew I’d ruined things between us.
But she came here today. Surely there was a reason. But what was it?
She would have said something if it weren’t for Cynthia and her bad mouth. I curse the day I fell into her trap.
“Is there something you wanted to tell me?” I asked, finding my feet.
“It’s….nothing actually.” Olivia stutters, turning around quickly without so much as a glance my way.
I stared at her continuously, my heart aching with each step she took.
What have I done?
She walked up to the truck and it’s workers, each greeting her before she swept past them and forward on her way.
“What was that about?” Cynthia stormed the question at me, pointing a finger directly toward me.
I sighed, and moved away from her. But Cynthia moves forward, hindering my path. “I’m talking to you. Don’t you dare ignore me.”
“Please, I really don’t have the energy for this.”
“Why? Because of her right? Does she mean so much to you?”
“Yes!” The words came out of my mouth fluently.
Cynthia stared at me with so much disbelief. “She’s that important huh? More than your unborn child. Is that it?”
At the mention of my unborn child, my heart melted completely. I couldn’t bear to be a bad father. I already had issues with mine already and there was no reason to repeat it with my child.
“I didn’t say that.”
“Then what was all that about? You were practically frolicking around her like you wanted to die for her.” She said. “Do you miss her so much that you want to miss out on your own child?”
“No.”
She raises my head by my chin. “That’s good. You don’t need her, trust me. You really don’t.”
If only that were true.
Olivia has been the thought of my existence ever since I knew her. And it got worst even after the whole incident with Cynthia.
“Don’t give me that face.” Cynthia said, pulling me out of my thoughts. “You only need me… and your child.”
My heart skipped, torn between believing her and wanting to believe in something more. And that something was definitely getting back Olivia.
As if reading my thoughts, she frowned, pushing me by the jaw. "Embarrassing," she spat, "how can you even call yourself a man? And what was she doing here? Did you call her to come?"
I stared at her in cold silence.
When I didn’t answer, she attempted to escalate things forward. But Stanley quickly intervened, stepping in at just the right moment.
“Miss, Cynthia. Might I schedule a cold bath for you? It’ll be most refreshing for you and the baby.” He suggested.
Cynthia froze, contemplating what my family’s butler had suggested. I knew she loved luxury, and that was what Stanley was offering.
A twisted smile painted her lips, she laughs, blinking at the thought of her in the cold jacuzzi bath. “Hmm, that doesn’t seem so bad after all.” She said as she beamed a smile at him, before turning to glare at me.
“Atleast someone here knows how to treat a lady. Take note.” She says, glaring at me as she turns away. Slowly, she quicken her steps after Stanley.
At the door she stops, turns to take a quick glance at me before exiting into the house.
Once I’d been left in front of my families manor, I turned around to search for Olivia. But she was gone, there was not a single trace of her.
“Olivia…” I muttered to myself. My heart beating fast as I thought of her.
Olivia had come here to see me. Surely, there was something important. Could it be about the stranger rumored to be seen with her?
I called for one of the workers, she rushed over immediately.
“That mask,” I tell her, “make sure to take it out from the rest. I want to know everything about it.”
“Yes, master Kane.” She rushes back to the rest.
I could see her search through the box thoroughly.
“Master Kane.” Stanley’s voice called to me.
I turned to face him. “What is it?”
He hesistates. “Lady Cynthia wants you to join her. She’s already in the jacuzzi waiting for you.”
I sighed. She clearly doesn’t want me going after Olivia.
“I’d be with her shortly.” I tell him, before turning to stare at our gate far away.
Olivia was gone. And couldn’t chase after her.
Don't tell Zed about our little chat.The words were still echoing in my head, and my wrist throbbed like a second heartbeat. I looked up into Zed's face, at the dark eyes and the clenched jaw, and I knew with total certainty that whatever I said next would change everything.Lie, and I'd have six hours of fear and a blackmailer's leash around my neck.Tell the truth, and I might lose the only person in this entire school who'd just stood in front of the Dean and put his name beside mine."Rayna." His voice was quieter now. That was worse than the anger. "I heard the name. I heard the part about seven o'clock. Don't make me guess."My throat closed. I forced the words out one at a time, like pulling glass."Michelle was supposed to be here."He didn't move."The letter," I whispered. "The Elmor admission letter. It was hers. It came for her, and I..." My voice broke, and I pressed my fist against my mouth until I could go on. "I took it. I had the chance, and I took it. And I never ga
Chapter "Auntie, I can't believe I'm out of the hospital!" Zara screamed, her voice ringing out from the back seat. Her voice was too bright and joyful, and something about seeing this version of her loosened a knot in my chest."I know, my love. I myself can't believe it either." Mia twisted around to face her, a broad grin on her face. "But I need you to be honest with me...are you feeling okay? No tummy aches or anything?""No. Not at all. I feel great." Zara kicked her feet against the seat to prove herself to me. "Can we get ice cream on our way home? I am craving some vanilla ice cream."Mia wagged her finger in front of Zara. "Absolutely not," she said, laughing. "You won't be having ice cream for a while, Little Miss Zara, because the doctor instructed so. You need to avoid ice cream for the time being.""But that is not fair." Zara crossed her arms, pouting. "I didn't even do anything wrong. I am not a naughty child.""I know, Zara. Don't get me wrong. This has nothing to do
Kane's POVThe café emptied out slowly around us, the ordinary rhythm of the morning rush filtering back in from every direction while the six of us sat crowded around a table meant for four, nobody quite ready to be the first to leave.Sophia kept glancing at my mother like she still wasn't sure this was real. My mother kept reaching across the table every few minutes, just to touch her hand, like she was afraid Sophia might disappear if she stopped checking."I have so many questions," Sophia said finally, laughing a little at herself. "I don't even know where to start.""We have time," my mother said softly. "As much of it as you want."Edmund cleared his throat quietly. "I should go. Give you all some space for this." He stood, and I caught his sleeve before he could leave."Dinner," I said. "This week. All of us. You're part of this family too, whether any of us planned it that way or not."Something in his face shifted — gratitude, relief, maybe the first real sense of belonging
Kane's POVThe café was already busy by nine, the kind of ordinary Tuesday-morning noise that felt obscene against everything churning in my chest. Celeste's hand was laced tight through mine as we stepped inside, my mother a half step behind us, pale but steady, Edmund hanging back near the door like he still wasn't sure he'd earned the right to be part of this moment.I spotted her immediately.Not because she looked like my mother, though she did, something in the set of her jaw, the careful way she held her shoulders. I spotted her because she was sitting perfectly still at a corner table, hands wrapped around a coffee cup she wasn't drinking, watching the door like she already knew exactly who was about to walk through it."Sophia," my mother breathed.The woman at the table looked up, and whatever composure she'd been holding onto cracked the second her eyes landed on my mother's face. She stood so fast her chair scraped loud against the floor, coffee forgotten."You look like m
Kane's POVI turned the phone around so Jim could read it himself.Whatever I expected — denial, anger, the careful deflection of a man caught off guard — wasn't what I got. Jim's face went pale, then strangely, terribly calm, the way a man's face goes still right before he finally sets down a weight he's been carrying too long to remember what it felt like to stand up straight."I was there," he said quietly. "The night your father died."The room went dead silent."What do you mean you were there." My voice came out low, dangerous, nothing like the steady control I'd been clinging to for the last four days. "Jim. You told me you found him. You told me you were the one who called the ambulance.""I did find him. I did call the ambulance." His jaw worked, old grief surfacing in a face that had never once shown me anything but careful competence in eleven years of knowing him. "I just never told you I was already in the house when it happened. That I was standing in the hallway outside
Kane's POVThe sixth.I stared at the message until the words stopped making sense, until "the five of you" had looped through my head enough times to count — me, Celeste, my mother, Julian, Edmund. Five. Which meant whoever Desmond was bringing into this next wasn't anyone I'd already met."Who else is there," my mother whispered, reading over my shoulder again. "Kane, how many more people did your father's secrets touch.""I don't know. But I intend to find out before Desmond gets to decide the timing again." I was already moving, pulling my phone back out, dialing Celeste first. She picked up on the first ring, like she'd been sitting by the phone waiting for exactly this kind of call."Tell me," she said, no greeting, straight to business, and something in my chest eased just slightly at the sound of her voice."We found Sophia. My sister. Three blocks from the office, working under a different name, parents dead in what might not have been an accident." I kept my voice steady eve







