As I swapped with the next person who would play a few melodies, I held my gaze on Kain and Skyler. He hadn’t rebuffed her clinging, which made me feel uneasy. However, I knew I couldn’t start an argument or fight here, of all places. Perhaps Kain was of the same mindset? That was all I could think of. That he had not resisted Skyler might have also been part of his reasoning. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking from his expressions.“You wrote those lyrics in such a short time?” He asked me with a raise of his eyebrows. “I am impressed. Doing so has given you more spotlight, so well done,” he continued, his lips unable to hide the smile.“I couldn’t help but want to write something for it, seeing as you trusted me with something so special,” I replied. Despite my feelings of jealousy bubbling up, I was happy that Kain had praised me so highly. I tried not to pay much attention to how S

It was stressful trying to locate Kain while still paying attention to Skyler in a way that I did not make her aware of my actions. She had told me again to not worry about it and that Kain could handle himself just fine, but I wasn’t about to let him walk into trouble unprepared. I knew my boyfriend more than anyone else. He never visited his father unless the man had summoned him, and he rarely talked about him too. The two did not get along all that well, from what I understood. Double-checking my phone, I could tell that Kain hadn’t seen my message yet. He rarely looked at his phone during events like this, but I had wanted to at least exhaust all my options before throwing in the towel. If I couldn’t find him personally, then maybe he’d see the message. That was my hope, anyway, but so far, luck was not on my side. At this point, I had not been paying attention to Skyler, and I had lost her in the crowd somewhere. Shoot. I hoped she wouldn

Tonight wasn’t even halfway done and already I was exhausted. Learning Kain was being blackmailed into an arranged marriage, and then finding out I was supposed to be taking over his spot as the company’s most popular entertainer? It was all too much! I floundered my way back to Skyler as soon as I had found her again. It had annoyed her when I had ‘dumped’ her, but as soon as she found out the (singular) reasoning behind it; me being introduced to the Sponsor as Kain’s protegee; she quickly forgave me. I did not mention the blackmail. That was not something anyone else could ever learn. “Ah! I knew there had to be some reason! But to never once tell you!? I’m so surprised! I would have thought he would have said something sooner!” Skyler said as she took my hands into her own and was shaking them up and down to congratulate me. “All the personal lessons, all the events you got dragged to, it all makes sense now!” I offered a nervous la

“Damnit, damnit, damnit!” Kain’s voice startled me awake. It was still early, but for some ungodly reason, Kain had woken up early and was now cursing downstairs. Rolling over, I look at the alarm clock. It has barely gone past seven in the morning! I groan and slowly slide myself out of the bed. I grab my boxers to at least attempt to hold some sort of modesty, but I’m not that bothered by it as much as I used to be. It’s rare Kain has visitors besides Drake, and I doubt he would be here this early. As I make my way down the stairs, I see a half-naked Kain pacing over by the couch with his laptop open to his email page. I can’t read it from here, but I don’t need to see or read it to know that he has the information needed to start our investigation. As I reach Kain’s side, I offer his arm a gentle touch. He glances back at me, surprised to see me awake this early when there’s no need to be. “Sorry, did I wake you?” He asks sof

I can feel my heart shattering into a thousand little pieces as Kain accepts Malak’s terms to keep our secret from having been in a same-sexed relationship. That a man who also likes other men could even conceive of such a notion to do this to someone else, while knowing the pain something like this could cause, has my mind seeing nothing but red. He doesn’t have the risk of losing his company if he ‘came out’ as gay, so he never hid it, but Kain stands to lose everything. This whole thing is not okay! I can’t stand for this kind of injustice! There is no way I am about to let Kain go through with this! Not in a million years! “I’ll give you twenty-four hours. Get back to me with your ultimate answer through your father. If you agree, we will plan and set everything up. You need not worry about handling anything,” Malak says as he slowly stands up with that charming smile of his. Sharply, I shoot him an angry glare. “I don’t know who yo