Kyra’s POV
He looked at as he sat on the floor, lips parted in shock. We were both soaking wet and I could feel the cold night air cutting through my drenched sleepwear. I brushed my wet hair from my face and wrapped my arms around myself, trembling.
When I tried to leave, Kieran pulled himself up and grabbed my arm, stopping .
His eyes were full of hope, an idiotic smile spreading across his face. "You... you saved ..."
Anger flared in my chest, hot and violent.
"You saved , Kyra. You still love —"
I slapped him so hard my palm stung, tears streaming down my face. I couldn’t believe him. He had done this on purpose? He knew I couldn’t bear to watch soone die before my eyes, so he used this sick sche to make save him? To justify his delusions?
He stared at , shocked, his cheek reddening where I’d struck him. His eyes were soft, almost tender as I continued crying.
"You can manipulate over and over again, but you can never win my heart," I spat, disgust and hatred dripping from every word. Sylvia growled ferociously inside , sharing my rage.
"K-Kyra..." He was still drunk, but my words seed to be sobering him quickly.
"I hate you so much, but I can’t let you die before my eyes because I’m not as evil as you. And that’s one of the reasons why I can’t forgive you. I am not evil like you, who can forget those painful nightmares."
"I-I wasn’t trying to—"
"You disgust !" I cut him off, my voice trembling with fury. "I can’t believe you could use your own life to manipulate like this."
"Kyra..."
I walked away, refusing to listen to whatever excuse he was trying to form. He had deliberately drowned himself. He must have seen at the balcony—that was why he jumped in the water. I couldn’t believe the depths he would sink to.
I rushed upstairs to my room and straight into the walk-in closet. I dried myself and changed my clothes to avoid catching a cold, but I woke the next morning feeling like I’d been hit by a truck. My head was pounding and my body burned with fever.
A soft knock at the door barely registered. My eyes felt hot and heavy, and I lacked the energy to even call out. I vaguely rembered forgetting to lock the door last night.
"Kyra? I’m coming in."
I swallowed painfully, my throat raw and dry. I wanted so warm water desperately.
The door clicked open, and through my blurred vision, I saw Kieran entering.
I didn’t want to talk to him or even see him, but I felt so weak I couldn’t utter a word.
"Are you okay?" He approached the bed where I lay wrapped in blankets like a sushi roll.
He placed his hand on my forehead. I wanted to shove it away, but my body refused to cooperate.
"You’re sick!"
I closed my eyes again, and seconds later, I fell into a heavy sleep.
When I woke later, I felt marginally better. I realized my clothes had been changed, and there was a cloth on my forehead.
Did he take care of ?
I pushed the blanket aside and placed my feet on the floor. My forehead creased when I saw Kieran lying on the sofa inside my room, fast asleep in what looked like an incredibly uncomfortable position.
My stomach growled with hunger, prompting to leave the room and head to the kitchen.
The delicious scent of food made my mouth water instantly.
"Miss Kyra, I prepared your dinner."
I stared at the spread the chef had laid out on the table.
"Sir Kieran told to prepare soup for you, but you were asleep. I suppose you’re feeling better now."
I sat at the dining chair, not responding to anything he said.
"Sir Kieran got drunk all night. He was always like that during his mother’s death anniversary."
That made freeze. I lifted my gaze to the chef’s face. Yesterday was his mother’s death anniversary?
The chef laughed awkwardly. "I was the chef in your father’s house ten years ago. So I know Sir Kieran’s habits and so things about him."
His mother’s death anniversary? Yesterday? That’s why he got drunk all day and night? Was that also why he’d jumped into the water?
I swallowed hard and dropped my eyes to the food. The talkative chef continued sharing random things, but my mind had latched onto this new information about Kieran’s mother.
When I returned to the room, Kieran was still asleep. I studied his face from the doorway. Dark circles shadowed his eyes. He’d lost weight. His facial hair had grown unchecked. He looked utterly stressed and worn.
I looked away, fighting the unwelco feeling stirring in my heart.
I shouldn’t feel sympathy or pity for him. I shouldn’t be affected. He ruined my life. Nothing he could do would remove or even lessen the pain he had inflicted on . Whatever he was going through, it shouldn’t be a free pass for the evil he had done.
***
Phoebe’s POV
"Where have you been?"
Day four of sneaking out of my parents’ house just to visit Snow in Kyra’s apartnt. My brother had noticed my behavior and now he was confronting .
I looked at him. I wanted so badly to tell him about Kyra. I desperately wanted to tell him there was a chance he had a daughter with his ex-wife. But taking away Kyra’s right to decide for her own daughter weighed heavily on my conscience.
"I—"
"You’re skipping classes. I heard from your classmate."
My lips parted, the excuse I’d prepared dying on my tongue.
I looked away. "I just have sothing to do."
"What sothing? Are you seeing soone?"
My forehead creased. "What made you think that?"
"Don’t lie to , Phoebe! I’m your brother! I know you too well, and I know when you’re hiding sothing."
I sucked in a breath. He had been almost happy a week ago, and now he was back to being gloomy and grumpy. What was wrong with him?
"Nathan—"
"Do you have a boyfriend? Is that it? Why are you neglecting your studies? What are you planning to do with your life—"
"Hold it right there," I interrupted, frowning. "Why are you acting like this?"
He gritted his teeth and glared at . "Just make sure I don’t catch you, Phoebe. If I see you playing around with so guy while neglecting your studies, I’ll beat him to a pulp in front of you."
I watched as he walked away and went upstairs. I didn’t know what was wrong with him, and it was infuriating.
"Phoebe..."
I turned to see Mom walking out of the kitchen. She approached and glanced at Nathan’s retreating form.
"Don’t mind your brother. He’s stressed because he thought Kyra was alive... It turns out... he was mistaken."
My eyes widened. He saw Kyra?
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