And he already pledged enough to pay for next year and every year after?
Just how fucking much money does he make? And how? I don’t know a single damn thing about what Kai does for work,but clearly his income is fucking insane if he can do something like this. I can’t understand it. Not how he’s done it orwhy.
“Thank you, but I didn’t do this for applause or recognition, because this donation was about taking care of the kids of this town and helping their families. About the belief that no child should go hungry, regardless of their home situation.” Kai is confident, but not smug. He looks perturbed by the applause, rather than enjoying the attention, and the whole thing catches me by surprise. “I didn't do this for recognition. In fact, my donation was supposed to remain anonymous,” Kai says, shooting a sharp glare at Tiffany.
Well earned, if you ask me.
But I am surprised by the admission. He wanted it to stay hidden. But why?
“The idea to do this wasn’t originally my dream. I just have the financial means to bring the dream to life for someone else,” Kai explains, taking a deep breath before letting out a long sigh.
Oh my god, he does remember. He’s talking about me. About my dream. He did this for me but didn’t want me to know it was him?Why?I don’t understand why. The word keeps repeating in my head as I struggle to make sense of it.
“Holy shit,” Sable murmurs beside me, clearly realizing the same thing, but my eyes are locked on Kai.
"Rather than praising me, I would like you all to take a moment to acknowledge the incredible men and women who spent years turning this charity into something incredible. Most especially its founder, Mary," Kai adds.
“Plum. What the fuck?” Sable asks, and I nod slowly as Kai nods to the older beta as the crowd cheers for her in recognition.
"Please, if you have it to give, give it freely." He ends his speech and passes the mic back to the presumptuous omega, but it's quickly snatched from Tiffany’s hands by Mary, who doesn’t look very impressed by the younger woman’s actions.
"Are you freaking out, Plum? Because I am," Sable whispers as she takes my hands in hers. There are tears in her eyes, and I realize I've been crying too. "He actually fucking did it. He made your dream come true."
"I know," I whisper back, shaking my head. "He remembered," I add, swallowing around the lump in my throat.
"He tried to keep it a secret too." Sable sniffs, then gives a small chuckle. “No thanks to Tiffany. I doubt she’ll be allowed to volunteer again in the future. How are you feeling right now?” she asks, but all I can manage is a head shake. “Yeah, I figured.” She sighs, releasing my hands to wrap her arms around me.
Honestly, I don’t know how I feel.
I would have learned about the donation eventually. Knowing this town, I probably would’ve learned about it before the end of the day, but I have no doubt Mary and the others would have respected the integrity of an anonymous donation. So like everyone else here, I probably would have tried to guess who made such a large donation. There are only a few people in town who could afford something like that, and I don’t know any of them personally.
Prior to five minutes ago, I wouldn’t have guessed Kai could afford this; I had no idea he was this fucking wealthy. If I assumed the donor was connected to me… Well, the only people who might have the means to pull this off would be Stella’s fiancé and his family, but I already know they made several smaller donations.
Which means I would’ve guessed it was simply random and just an unrelated coincidence. Would anyone else have thought it was Kai? Hell, I think I would have guessed Sable before thinking of him. She’s known about my larger-than-life dream since we were kids.
The dream that Kai just made come true, apparently without ever wanting recognition for it.
Memories I fight so hard to keep locked in their box are trying to escape, flooding me with emotions I want nothing to do with.
If I didn’t know him as well as I do, I would assume Kai set this whole thing up as a way to win me over, but his reaction seemed genuine. Too genuine to be faked. Tiffany probably just thought she could get Kai to like her by bringing positive attention his way. Clearly she saw dollar signs and turned her thinking brain off, because he isn’t the kind of guy to crave the spotlight.
Kai leaves as soon as he hands the mic off, pushing his way toward the parking lot before disappearing. He didn’t try to find me. Didn’t come over to flaunt his wealth in an attempt to woo me.
He really didn’t want me to know it was him. He just wanted to make my dream come true, knowing it would fill me with joy, regardless of who did this.
I frown.
No.
Kai is a liar.
He lied when he said he would never leave me.
He lied when he said I was more important to him than anything else.
If that was a lie, this could be too.
Just another trick.
