Chapter 28
Nora's POV
"This can be resolved. Come work for the Vaughn family business. We have an opening in community outreach—you'd be perfect for it. You could still help people, but you'd have real resources, a real salary."
I felt something cold and final click shut in my chest. "Let me make sure I understand this correctly. Your parents will allow us to be together if I quit and come work for your family company?"
"It's not like that—"
"Then what is it like?" I could hear my voice rising despite my efforts to stay calm. "Because it sounds like you're asking me to trade my independence for your family's approval. It sounds like you want me to place myself under your parents' control so they won't be embarrassed about you dating a 'nobody human caseworker.'"
Kyle's face flushed dark red. "You're twisting my words! I'm trying to find a solution, Nora. I'm trying to make both sides happy—"
"By sacrificing me?" I laughed, and it came out harsh and bitter. "Kyle, do you even hear yourself? You're literally asking me to give up my career, my autonomy, everything I've worked for, just so you don't have to choose between me and your inheritance."
"This isn't about the inheritance!" His voice cracked with frustration. "Why do you always have to make everything so complicated? Why can't you just—I'm a real person, Nora. Can't I be more important than your work? More important than those cases?"
The question hung in the air between us, and I saw exactly where this was heading.
"If your mother told you I had to quit and stay home, be a full-time wife, what would you do?" I asked calmly.
Kyle opened his mouth, then closed it. He looked away, his jaw clenching. "We could... we could figure something out. Compromise—"
"That's not what I asked." My voice was sharp as a blade now. "If it came down to choosing between your family's demands and my career, which would you pick?"
"It won't come to that—"
"It already has," I said flatly. "If she gave you an ultimatum—your inheritance and your position in the company, or me and my work—what would you choose?"
The silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating. Kyle's face cycled through a dozen emotions—anger, guilt, frustration, desperation—but he didn't answer. Couldn't answer. Because we both knew what the truth was.
"That's what I thought," I said softly.
"Why does it have to be all or nothing?" Kyle's voice came out almost pleading. "Why can't we just... look, as long as we end up together, isn't that enough? Making money is a man's responsibility anyway. You could—"
"Stop." The word came out sharp as a slap. "Just stop talking."
I took a deep breath, feeling a bone-deep exhaustion settle over me. Not sadness, not anymore. Just tired acceptance of what had probably been true from the beginning.
"After knowing each other this long," I said quietly, "it's obvious you never really understood me at all."
Every muscle in my body was screaming for me to leave, to end this conversation and this relationship.
But before I could take more than two steps, I heard the sharp click of heels on tile. I looked up to see Sarah emerging from the elevator. When she spotted Kyle and me, something lit up in her eyes that made my stomach sink.
"Well, well," Sarah said, her voice carrying that false brightness she always used when she was about to cause trouble. "Long time no see, Kyle. What's going on here? Having a fight?"
Kyle's face went tight. "Sarah. Not now."
But Sarah just smiled, moving closer with deliberate steps. "Kyle. I haven't seen you since graduation. You look..." Her gaze raked over his disheveled appearance with barely concealed amusement. "Rough."
"I'm handling something private," Kyle said tersely. "Could you—"
"Oh, I'm not interrupting anything important, am I?" Sarah's eyes flicked between me and Kyle, and I saw calculation in her expression. "I remember every time you two fought, you'd come to us for advice."
Kyle went absolutely white. "Sarah, don't."
"Don't what?" Sarah tilted her head, her smile widening. "I'm just reminiscing. Nora, you remember those college parties, right? Those ridiculous competitions..." She paused deliberately.
"Sarah, what are you talking about?" I asked.
"Nothing important," Kyle said quickly, his voice tight with panic. He grabbed my wrist again. "Nora, let's go. We can talk in the car—"
But Sarah moved closer, and I saw something ugly flash across her face—jealousy and resentment mixed with vindictive satisfaction that made my skin crawl. "Kyle, aren't you going to tell her? About why you really started pursuing her back then?"
Kyle's hand tightened painfully around my wrist. "Sarah, shut up."
Sarah was clearly savoring the moment.
About why you really started pursuing her back then? Sarah had said the same thing last time.
"Oh dear, maybe I shouldn't have said that... you two talk, I'll go now." After dropping her bombshell, she left with a triumphant smile.
Leaving behind a rigid Kyle and a confused me.
I stared at Kyle's evasive eyes and tense expression. "What did Sarah mean by that? Why did you... why did you pursue me back then?"
Kyle's amber eyes flickered with something between guilt and panic as I stared him down, waiting for an answer that refused to come. His jaw worked soundlessly, mouth opening and closing like he was trying out different lies before settling on one.
"She's just trying to stir up trouble," he finally managed, voice tight. "Sarah's always been jealous of you, Nora. She'll say anything to drive a wedge between us."
I kept my gaze locked on his face. Years of reading body language in my work had taught me to spot evasion.
"That's not an answer," I said coldly.
"It doesn't matter," he said, the words coming faster now. "Whatever happened back then, whatever stupid games we played—it doesn't change how I feel about you now. I love you, Nora. That's what matters."
The admission hit like a physical blow, even though part of me had already known. I felt something cold and final settle in my chest, crystallizing into absolute certainty.
"No," I said quietly. "Whatever the truth is, it doesn't change today's outcome. We're done, Kyle. Stop coming to find me."
I turned to walk away. Kyle's footsteps followed after me.
I kept walking.
Behind me, I heard his phone ring. He answered it, and the angry male voice on the other end—his father's distinctive bark of authority—cut through the evening air.
I didn't look back. I didn't need to see Kyle's face to know what he would do.