2days later.....
My eyes fluttered open to the faint sound of curtains being drawn back.
Soft morning light spilled into the room, and there, perched at the edge of my bed with a tray of tea and fruit was Zarri.
But she wasn't fiery today. No sharp words, no flamboyant gestures. Instead, her voice was low, almost tender.
"Mi encanto," she said softly, brushing a stray lock of hair from my face. "I had them keep the reporters away from you. And your phone, I tucked it aside. You don't need to see what they're saying.
She lifted the cup of tea and held it toward me, steady and patient. "Drink. Just a sip. It'll calm you."
She set the cup on the nightstand and took my hand gently in both of hers, her thumb stroking the back of it in soothing circles.
"You don't need to fight today. Not yet. Just... let yourself breathe."
The silence between us was soft, for the first time since the ball, i wasn't surrounded by stares, whispers, or judgment. Just Zarri, her calm loyalty holding us together when everything else had tried to tear me apart.
After what seemed like forever I finally spoke up "I want to leave zarri.... I... I can't stay here anymore" my voice breaks and I crack into sobs "the country. Everything I need to be away"
Zarri's hands tightened around mine immediately, steady and warm.
"Shhh, mi encanto..." she whispered, pulling me gently against her shoulder. I felt her chin rest lightly on the top of my head as my sobs broke through. She didn't hush me, didn't try to stop the tears, she just held me, letting me unravel in the safety of her arms.
When i finally caught my breath, Zarri leaned back just enough to look into my eyes. Her own gaze was soft, but resolute.
"Then we leave," she said simply, her voice calm, soothing, but edged with steel. "If this country has turned its eyes against you, then let's give them nothing to look at. We'll go somewhere quiet, somewhere beautiful. Paris, Madrid, Rome, hell, we can vanish to an island if that's what you want."
Her thumb brushed away the damp trails on my cheeks. "You don't need to stay here, Kashi.... Not for Gray, not for your grandfather, not for anyone. You've given enough."
She kissed my temple gently, a rare tenderness softening her fiery nature. "Say the word, and I'll have the jet ready by tonight."
The world outside buzzed with my name on every headline, but in that moment, it was just me and Zarri her arms a shield, her voice a balm.
I clean my tears and nod
Zarri's lips curved into the faintest smile, one that held no mockery, only resolve.
"Good," she whispered, brushing her thumb gently across your cheek one last time. She rose gracefully from the edge of the bed, smoothing her gown as if nothing in the world could rattle her. But when she turned back to me, her eyes were steady, fierce in their calm.
"I'll handle everything," she said firmly. "By the time the sun sets, our bags will be packed, the jet will be fueled, and not a soul will know until we're already gone."
She moved toward the door but paused, glancing back at me. "Rest, mi encanto. When you wake, you won't be here anymore."
The door clicked softly behind her as she left, leaving me in the quiet warmth of my room. The silence felt different now, not suffocating, but fragile, a cocoon holding the faint glimmer of escape.
For the first time since the ballroom, my chest loosened. The tears had dried, but the weight of it all lingered in my bones. Still... there was hope now.
I would leave. I would vanish.
I'd been lying in bed for hours, trying to shut out the world, when I heard a knock on my door. "Go away," I groaned, my voice muffled by the pillow. But the door pushed open, and grandfather's familiar figure slipped inside.
"If you're here to tell me 'I told you so', leave," I said, curling myself up into a ball, trying to protect myself from the pain. But he didn't falter, didn't turn back. Instead, he came to the bed, his hand reaching out to touch my chin gently.
The touch was my undoing. I burst into tears, the dam breaking, and grandfather's arms wrapped around me, holding me tight. I sobbed into his chest, the pain and humiliation pouring out of me, and he just held me, his silence more comforting than any words could be.
For the first time in a long time, Grandfather didn't come with thunder in his voice or stone in his eyes.
His hand, so often the hand that had pointed, commanded, scolded, now lifted my chin again, gently, steadying me just enough for my eyes to meet his.
And that was all it took.
The tears came again, hot and unrelenting, spilling down my cheeks as my body trembled. I didn't fight them this time. I didn't try to be the strong Saint everyone demanded me to be. I just cried.
"Shhh..." he murmured, almost awkwardly, but it was the kind of awkwardness that came from a man who didn't comfort often, who had forgotten what it felt like to hold instead of command. "Let it out, girl. Let it out."
For a moment, the man who had been my harshest critic, the unbending patriarch of the Saints name, was simply my grandfather, weathered, tired, and yet unwilling to let me crumble alone.
The mansion was silent around us. No whispers, no headlines, no judgment. Just his arms, my sobs, and the quiet, steady heartbeat of the only man who had ever demanded me to be unbreakable, holding me now that i was
After a few minutes he then turned to me and said "zarri said you want to leave the country"
I don't say anything and just nod
I had braced myself for anger, for disappointment, for another lecture about strength and legacy. But instead, his voice was quiet, almost trembling with something i hadn't heard from him in years, tenderness.
"It's alright, kiddo," he repeated, his hand resting on my shoulder with a weight that was both steady and protective. "Go. Take as much space and time as you want"
I nodded, unable to trust my voice.
His grip tightened just slightly, the steel of the businessman bleeding into the vow of a grandfather. "Leave the critics to me. Leave that Damian bastard to me. I'll handle it all. No one will hurt you again, not while I'm alive."
He pulled me in once more, pressing a kiss to the crown of my head before letting go, his weathered eyes soft as they studied you. "You've carried this family's weight long enough. Rest, Kashi. When you're ready, you'll rise again. And when you do... the world won't be ready."
My heart didn't feel crushed beneath humiliation. It felt... protected.
***********************************
The next day.....
On the jet.
The low hum of the engines filled the private cabin, a steady rhythm that seemed to drown out the chaos i'd left behind. Plush leather seats stretched out around me, polished wood gleaming under soft cabin lights. Beyond the window, the city that had mocked me glittered faintly in the distance, shrinking with every passing second.
I sank back into my seat, exhaustion pulling at my bones, eyes swollen from too many tears. For the first time in what felt like forever, no cameras flashed, no whispers followed, no eyes judged. Just silence. Just sky.
Across from me, Zarri reclined lazily with a blanket tossed over her legs, swirling the last of her champagne in a glass. There was no fire in her tone only a quiet, protective softness.
"We did it, mi encanto," she murmured, giving you a small smile. "You're out. No Damian, no headlines, no vultures waiting to see you bleed. Just... freedom."
The jet tipped slightly upward, carrying us farther from the ground, farther from last night, farther from him.
I let my eyes drift to the window. The moonlight spilled across my reflection, tired, tear-stained, but still standing. Still Kashi Saints.
I was leaving it all behind.
At least... for now.