Julia's POV
The world felt strange after Kai's confession.
Like every hallway, every shadow, every whispered conversation in the office was somehow connected to a truth I hadn't fully uncovered yet. My chest felt tight—not from fear of him, but from fear of what I still didn't know.
Kai said he hated me because my existence destroyed his family.But… that couldn't be the whole story.Hate never grows out of just one wound.
I walked down the corridor slowly, my steps echoing, my hands cold despite the warm lights. Everyone around me moved normally—typing, chatting, carrying files—but to me, the air felt heavier. Like something was watching. Waiting.
I kept replaying Kai's words.
"You were sent away for your protection.""You were always meant to replace what I lost."
Replace what?Replace who?
I pressed a hand against my forehead. My father—no, the man who raised me—never told me anything. Not the truth about my mother, not the truth about the Bennetts, and certainly not that Kai...
…had been suffering in the shadows the entire time.
Just how many lives had been twisted around my birth?
I reached the end of the hall, leaning against the wall, trying to breathe.
That's when a voice echoed behind me.
"Julia."
Alan.
His footsteps were sharp, urgent. I didn't even need to look to know his expression—tense jaw, controlled fury, eyes burning with answers he wasn't ready to share.
I turned slowly.
"You spoke to him," Alan said quietly.
It wasn't a question.
"Yes," I whispered. "I needed to."
Alan exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair in a rare show of frustration.
"You shouldn't be alone with him right now."
"That's not fair," I said. "If he knows something about my mother—about my past—I deserve to hear it."
Alan's gaze softened for a fraction of a moment, but the tension wasn't gone.
"You deserve the truth," he said. "But Kai Bennett is the last person who should be giving it to you."
Before I could ask why, a door slammed somewhere down the hall.
Alan's head snapped toward the sound.
Kai.
He was standing in the hallway, expression unreadable, shoulders tense, eyes locked on the two of us.
The air didn't just thicken.
It crackled.
Alan's POV
Kai's stare was a silent threat.
Not loud.Not violent.Just… sharp enough to split nerves.
I stepped in front of Julia without thinking. Not because she needed protection—but because I refused to let Kai get anywhere near her after what I discovered.
He knew.
And I knew.
We were both dancing around a truth that could detonate in a single sentence.
Kai took one slow step forward.
"You told her?" he asked, voice calm in a way that wasn't calm at all.
Julia grabbed my sleeve. I felt her tremble.
"No," I said. "She told me."
Kai's jaw flexed. His eyes flicked to Julia, then back to me.
"Did she tell you the whole story?" he asked coldly. "Or just the part that makes her look like the victim?"
Julia flinched.
That was enough.
"Kai," I said sharply, "don't speak to her like that."
Kai's eyes narrowed.
"Funny. You're acting like you know everything." He tilted his head. "But you're just starting to scratch the surface, Alan."
My hands curled into fists.
Julia's voice cracked between us.
"Kai… if there is more—then tell me. Please. Stop keeping pieces of my life like they're weapons."
Kai's expression flickered—just for a heartbeat—into something that looked like grief.
Then it vanished.
"You want the truth?" he said softly. "Fine. But you won't like it. And neither will he."
His gaze slid to me again.
This time, it wasn't a threat.
It was a warning.
Julia's POV
My pulse raced.
"What truth?" I whispered.
Kai shifted his weight, eyes dark.
"You weren't just sent away for protection," he murmured. "You were hidden… because someone wanted you dead."
The room tilted. My stomach dropped.
Alan stiffened beside me.
"Kai," Alan said lowly, "that's enough."
But Kai didn't stop.
He stepped closer—close enough that I could see the strain in his eyes, the years of resentment tangled with something deeper… something broken.
"You think your mother saved you?" Kai said. "You think she was a saint? Julia… she didn't just run from a scandal. She destroyed an entire family to keep you alive."
I stared at him, numb.
"My mother never hurt anyone," I whispered.
Kai smiled.
A thin, sad, terrifying smile.
"She didn't have to. Everyone else did it for her."
My breath hitched.
That was when Alan grabbed Kai's collar and slammed him against the wall.
"Kai," Alan snarled, "if you don't stop twisting her mind right now—"
"I'm not twisting anything," Kai hissed back. "I'm preparing her. Because when the rest comes out…"His eyes flicked to mine."…you won't be able to save her."
A chill shot down my spine.Alan's grip tightened.And I knew—
We were nowhere near the full truth yet.
This was only the beginning.
The real unraveling hadn't even started.