Ch. 28 What Kai Can’t Say

And silence was safer than honesty.

because silence didn’t disappoint people.

It didn’t get twisted into headlines, gossip posts, or boardroom leverage.

Or neither did it give anyone something to use against him.

So he’d built himself out of it.

Standing alone on the edge of the football field, long after practice had ended and the sun had dipped low enough to bleed orange across the bleachers, Kai let the quiet settle around him. His phone buzzed nonstop in his pocket—texts from friends, notifications from the gossip app, his mother’s assistant reminding him about a dinner he wouldn’t attend.

But he just ignored it.

Ruby’s voice still echoed in his head.

You don’t get to care now.

He dragged a hand down his face, jaw tight.

She didn’t know how close she’d been to the truth.

The Kingston house had never felt like a home.

It was too big, too clean, too quiet. A place designed to impress guests who never stayed long enough to notice the emptiness echoing through the halls.

Kai had grow