enjoyebooks Chapter 16
Chapter 16
KAEL'S POV
I turned around just as Liora stepped into the room, her heels clicking softly against the polished floor.
She froze when she saw me pocketing my phone. “What are you doing here?”
“Nothing.”
For a heartbeat, there was a thick and tense silence between us. Then her lips curved into that familiar, rehearsed smile, the one she always wore when we were around her parents or at social functions. She crossed the room quickly and took my arm like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"Let's join my parents," she said, voice smooth as satin.
I forced a smile in return, but my insides felt like they were being crushed under a weight I couldn’t shake. The images from the folder were burned into my mind—plans, names, dates, Celestina’s face circled in red ink. I had the proof now. But it wasn’t relief that filled me. It was something heavier. Anger. Guilt. Fear.
As Liora's hand slipped into the crook of my arm, I caught the way her eyes flicked to the sideboard. For the briefest moment, her expression cracked, and her smile faltered. Her grip tightened around my arm, subtle but firm.
“What were you looking at over there, Kael?” she asked, the question wrapped in silk but lined with steel.
I kept my face even, my voice steady. “Just admiring your family’s collection of artifacts.”
Her smile came back, but it was thinner now. Tighter. “Really? Because it looked like you were reading something you weren’t supposed to touch.”
Silence fell and she continued to watched me.
“You were spying?”
I didn’t bother denying it.
“I know what your family did,” I said, each word deliberate. “I saw the documents.”
She stared at me for a second, then let her hand fall from my arm. The shift in her demeanor was immediate, gone was the poised, gentle Liora. What stood before me now was something colder, sharper.
“You made a mistake,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “You were never supposed to see that.”
My jaw clenched. “Celestina almost died because of your family.”
“And yet here you are,” she said, her voice turning mocking. “Still walking, still talking. You think you’ve won something?”
“You knew,” I said, stepping back. “You knew and you stayed quiet.”
Her expression hardened. “You’re engaged to me, Kael. That means something. You don’t get to play the hero for someone who threw her crown away.”
“This engagement was never about love,” I said. “It was a deal. And I’m done pretending.”
“You don't mean it, do you?”
“I do. I fucking mean it. I'm done with you.”
Her mouth twitched, but she didn’t flinch. “Walk away then. But don’t fool yourself into thinking you can undo what’s already been set in motion.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
I turned without another word and walked out. My footsteps echoed through the corridor like drumbeats, each one louder than the last.
The butler tried to speak as I passed, but I didn’t even hear what he said. My mind was too loud, my chest too tight.
I shoved open the doors and stepped into the night. Cold air hit my face, sharp as broken glass, but it couldn’t cut through the fire inside me.
My hands shook as I fumbled with my keys. I got in the car, slammed the door, and just sat there for a moment, gripping the wheel. My heart was pounding. My thoughts were a mess.
I had proof.
Real proof.
I started the engine and pulled away from the curb, tires crunching over gravel. Streetlights passed in a blur as I turned onto the main road, heading toward the palace—or maybe just somewhere safe, anywhere but here.
My phone buzzed once in my pocket, and I assumed Celestina had seen the photos and she was calling me.
Or maybe it was Liora, realizing what she’d done by letting me go.
Curiosity got the better of me so I looked down to grab my phone when I heard the loud roar of an engine and tires screeching. I looked up with fright to see a bright, blinding headlight.
Everything happened so fast.
I yanked the wheel, my breath catching in my throat, but the other car was already there, slamming into me with the force of a battering ram.
The impact threw me sideways. Metal screamed. Glass exploded inward. The world spun once, then again, the cabin twisting violently as my car flipped over, slamming into the pavement like a toy being thrown by a child.
The pain hit instantly, sharp, brutal, everywhere. My chest felt like it had been caved in, my left arm refused to move, and blood filled my mouth, hot and metallic. I tried to suck in a breath and got nothing but fire.
Somewhere, far away, I thought I heard voices. Or sirens. Or maybe it was just the wind rushing past my broken window.
The dashboard lights flickered, painting the crushed interior in flashes of red and blue. I blinked, tried to focus, but everything was going dark around the edges.
My thoughts drifted.
Celestina.
Her face. The way she looked at me the last time we spoke. That sadness in her eyes. That silence I couldn’t fix.
I wanted to see her again. Just once more.
I tried to move. Tried to reach for my phone. My fingers wouldn’t respond.
The cold was seeping in now, curling up from the floorboards, wrapping around my legs and spine. My head fell sideways, resting against the shattered glass of the window.
And then everything went black.