Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 137326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
The air is heavy, laced with something old that presses against my skin like a warning.
So…this is where Kane grew up.
How could he breathe amid this repressive energy?
My pulse beats in my throat as I study my surroundings, the walls seeming to close in more the farther we walk. Every corner of this mansion feels untouched, frozen in time, like it exists outside of reality.
And yet…
Every inch of it is Kane. The controlled edges, the cold perfection, all laced with something darker beneath the surface.
No wonder he transformed into a fortress with no access. He was born into one.
“Does Kane visit often?” I ask the butler.
He says nothing, just glides ahead with his stiff posture, leading me deeper into the belly of this house, past heavy doors and windows draped in velvet.
Suddenly, he stops and gestures to the glass door framed in dark wood up ahead. Beyond it, I can see the faint outline of the garden.
He slides the door open without a word, and the crisp, sharp scents of earth and water hit me.
The garden is alive in a way the mansion isn’t—soft camellia trees drifting in the breeze, the quiet trickle of a stream somewhere in the distance.
The stones beneath my feet feel solid, but each step I take pulls me further into images of what it must’ve felt like.
Kane grew up here. He was made somewhere between the house’s cold walls and the tranquility of this garden.
I make out Helena’s silhouette standing by a large pond.
She’s wearing a soft beige dress with a shawl draped around her shoulders as she feeds fat koi fish.
I’m mesmerized by the view of the fish gliding effortlessly through the water and opening their mouths.
“Dahlia.” She pauses upon seeing me, a faint smile painting her lips.
“Hi.” I offer her the bouquet of flowers I spent a fortune to buy. “I hope you like this small gift.”
“Aw, that’s so thoughtful, thank you.” She hugs the flowers to her chest and strokes the colorful petals. “I don’t remember the last time I received flowers.”
She motions in the direction of the glass door, and a staff member walks out with purpose and takes the bouquet.
“Put it in my room,” Helena says, then faces me. “I need to feed these little ones before I can sit down. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. They’re so beautiful.”
“They are.” A glaze covers her eyes as she stares at the pond. “What most people don’t know is that beneath that beauty lies the most formidable resilience and strength. They can survive in harsh weather and swim against currents. They give me hope.”
I study her profile. She seems half alive, and her voice sounds a bit tired. Lifeless, even.
My heart aches for her.
Helena must’ve been so beautiful in her youth, but now, her cheeks have sunken, and she’s skin and bones.
I try to cheer her up. “Do you have favorites?”
“Sora.” She motions at the largest red koi fish, who keeps beating the others to the food. “I got him when I first found out I was pregnant with Kane. All his siblings passed away, but he’s going strong, nearing twenty-three years old.”
“What does Sora mean?”
“Sky in Japanese. The wide, unrestrained, and all-encompassing sky.” Her eyes soften as if she were looking at Kane.
Now, she’s breaking my heart.
And I’m really disliking Kane. Would it hurt him to show some affection to his lonely mom?
Some of us would kill to have a mom.
“Would you like to feed them?” She offers me the ceramic bowl.
“Can I?”
“Absolutely.”
I grab the bowl and start throwing out some pellets. The prick Sora eats it all, leaving the rest with open mouths and no food.
He shares Kane’s all-or-nothing personality for sure.
It’s his way or the highway.
After that encounter where I was nearly murdered by his friend, that asshole Kane has ghosted me for three days.
No kidding. There have been no texts, and he hasn’t talked to me in the arena.
Just because I said I didn’t want to see his face for three days. I was actually being vengeful because he refused to get together if sex wasn’t involved, but I didn’t think he’d take it literally.
So I sent him a text this morning.
Wow. Talk about petty.
He left me on Read.
Not gonna lie, I don’t like it when my tactics are used against me.
But, anyway, Kane who?
The guy I can’t stop being curious about and, therefore, dropped by his parents’ house, that’s who.
With an internal groan, I focus back on Helena. “Is Sora always this greedy?”
She laughs, the sound airy. “I suppose. He’s the oldest and believes in hierarchy.”
“Just like Kane.”
Her smile disappears. “No. Kane believes in control. Just like his father.”
My fingers pause and Helena throws some food, her gaze lost in the depths of the dark pond.
“I don’t want to be nosy, and you don’t have to tell me if you don’t feel comfortable, but I’ve been curious…” I swallow. “Why is your relationship with Kane so strained?”