Completely gone.
But what had stuck with me the most wasn’t even the act itself—though it was shocking, and god, he’d been beautiful with that hair—it was the way he carried himself after. Head high. Shoulders back. Like it wasn’t a loss at all. Like he didn’t evencare.
He’d stood up to his father, I realized. In his own way. And that took courage. Because Gabriel Steele isn’t the kind of man you defy lightly.
It made me admire Kai even more, even as I wondered why.
Beside my sister, Kym and Wren sit quietly, glancing at each other every now and then. They’ve been getting along pretty well lately, which shocks me slightly, since Kym always seems so reserved.
Maybe even a little mean. At school at least.
People always complained about her, the students especially. Said she’s mean. That she’s a bully. That’s what others would call her—a bully.
She had quite the reputation, and because of that, it kept people from getting too close.
Me included.
But here at home, she’s much more careful. Stiff. Unnervingly still to the point it’s almost worrying. There’s always been afear in her, a tension like she’s standing on the edge of a cliff, waiting for the wind to push her over. I used to think she was just paranoid, then I saw her bare-faced in front of the bathroom mirror in school for the first time.
Now I understand.
Probably should have guessed earlier with the way Will is.
Paris
Four years ago
For some reason, I can’t seem to get my mother’s words out of my head. For some reason, I never could.
I tell myself I don’t care. That I hate her, that I hate all of them. And maybe I do. Maybe I should.
But hatred is not a door slammed shut forever, it’s a messy thing. An unpredictable one too. And the truth—the awful, pathetic truth—is that I want my mother’s approval more than I hate her.
Because hatred doesn’t ache like this. Hatred doesn’t leave you waiting for a glance, a word, some small scrap of acknowledgment. Hatred doesn’t make you hold on to the memory of a hand that used to reach for yours, of a voice that used to say your name softly. Hatred doesn’t keep you awake at night, wondering what you did wrong to make someone stop loving you.
There’s a need behind the anger. A gnawing need. I still want them to see me. To acknowledge me. To care.
It’s useless, of course. I learned a long time ago that they wouldn’t. If I were bleeding out at their feet, they wouldn’t so much as flinch. I’ve always been the uglier, stupider, irrelevant sister. A ghost.
I’m a ghost at home, a ghost at school—silent, unseen, and unworthy of anyone’s attention. No one ever cared. No one wanted to. And so, eventually, I stopped existing in the ways that mattered. Maybe I never existed at all.
The rain is falling when I step outside, and I let it soak through my clothes, let the cold sink deep into my bones.
It’s a beautiful thing, a comfort. It has a way of washing away things I don’t want to feel.
I don’t notice him at first. But then I do.
Kai Steele.
He’s leaning against a tree, hands in his pockets, drenched but unbothered. There’s something alarmingly off about him today, like his mask has cracked just enough for something else to show through. Something raw. Something almost broken. He looks different today—not charming, not detached. Just sad. And I don’t know what to do with that.
“Hi,” I say, my voice barely more than a whisper.
He doesn’t answer, and I wonder if he even heard me, if he’s just going to ignore me like everyone else. Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe I should just keep walking.
Then his eyes meet mine. Beautiful, stormy, tired. There’s something vulnerable there, something I’ve never seen before.
“Y-you like… the rain too?” I ask, feeling ridiculous the second the words leave my mouth.
