Chapter 53

Kayna’s POV

The message wouldn’t stop echoing in her mind.

You deserve to know what they’re planning.

— A.M.

Alex Marshall.

There was no mistaking it.

Her pulse spiked the moment she saw the initials. Even before her brain could rationalize it, her instincts screamed that this wasn’t a coincidence.

But what was he trying to say? They’re planning—who was “they”? Damian and Julian? Or something even larger than that?

Kayna stood frozen in her apartment, staring at the message as if the screen might start offering her answers. The city beyond her window blurred into streaks of color, her thoughts moving too fast to hold. She wanted to delete it, to pretend it hadn’t happened. But she couldn’t.

Not after everything that had already begun to unravel.

She set her phone down and took a deep breath, trying to slow the hammering of her heart. Logic. She needed logic. Alex could be playing a game—he always had a way of saying things that carried two meanings. Maybe this was just another one of his attempts to pit her against Damian.

Still… the unease didn’t fade. It settled deeper, like a shadow spreading through her chest.

The next morning, the city felt sharper.

The air was cold enough to sting, the kind of morning that made you feel both alive and fragile. Kayna wrapped her coat tighter as she walked into the office, her mind already looping through scenarios of what Alex might’ve meant.

When she reached her floor, the usual rhythm of the office greeted her—phones ringing, soft chatter, the low hum of printers—but everything felt off. Her coworkers seemed oblivious, lost in spreadsheets and emails, while Kayna felt like she was walking on glass.

“Good morning,” Ava called out from her desk, bright as always.

“Morning,” Kayna managed, forcing a smile.

She headed straight to her office, setting her bag down before opening her laptop. But her focus wouldn’t stick. The cursor blinked against a blank document, mocking her. All she could see in her mind was Damian’s face the last time she saw him—his apology, the haunted look in his eyes, and now, this message from his brother.

If there was a plan… was she a part of it?

The door to Damian’s office opened then, and he stepped out, his presence commanding even when he wasn’t trying. His tie was neatly knotted, his sleeves rolled up, and yet he looked… tired. Strained, in a way that made her chest tighten before she could stop herself.

Their eyes met.

“Morning,” he said quietly.

She swallowed the sudden rush of emotion. “Good morning.”

He hesitated, as if he wanted to say something else, then nodded once and walked past toward the conference room. A subtle scent of cedar and faint cologne lingered after him, leaving her pulse disobediently quick.

He didn’t know about the message. She was sure of that. And she wouldn’t tell him. Not yet.

The day moved in fragments—meetings, calls, small moments that passed like static. Kayna buried herself in reports, in numbers and notes, anything to keep her mind from spiraling.

By noon, Ava knocked softly on her door. “Hey, you okay?”

Kayna blinked. “Why?”

“You’ve been staring at that screen for twenty minutes,” Ava said gently. “And it’s frozen.”

She looked down. The spreadsheet had crashed. “Oh. I must’ve zoned out.”

Ava tilted her head. “Rough night?”

Kayna forced a smile. “You could say that.”

Ava nodded knowingly but didn’t press. “Well, Damian’s having a closed-door meeting with some investors in an hour. He asked if you could sit in, just to help with the financial presentation.”

“Of course.”

She said it automatically, even though her stomach twisted at the thought of sitting across from him again—pretending she didn’t feel the weight of last night’s message burning in her pocket.

The meeting was precise, polished, and painfully long. Damian was at his best—articulate, composed, every word measured. Kayna could almost admire it if it didn’t make her doubt everything else.

When it ended, everyone filed out, murmuring congratulations and shaking hands. She started to gather her notes when Damian spoke.

“Kayna, stay for a minute.”

She froze, but nodded, staying seated as the door closed.

He leaned back against the table, studying her. “You’ve been quiet.”

She chose her words carefully. “Just focused.”

“Focused,” he repeated softly. “You’re always focused.”

Something in his tone made her chest tighten. “It’s what I’m paid for.”

He smiled faintly, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You make it sound like that’s all there is.”

She looked at him then, really looked—and for the first time, saw the exhaustion buried beneath his composure. “Maybe that’s all you let there be.”

He didn’t respond right away. His gaze flicked to the window, then back to her, his expression unreadable. “You’re not wrong.”

The honesty in his voice startled her. She’d expected deflection, arrogance—anything but that.

Before she could reply, his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, and his expression hardened.

“Alex,” he muttered, then looked at her. “We’ll finish this later.”

She nodded, watching as he stepped away to take the call, his voice low and controlled, but the tension in his shoulders unmistakable.

Whatever Alex wanted, it wasn’t good.

By the time Kayna returned to her desk, she was shaken again. And it didn’t help when Alex himself appeared half an hour later, leaning casually against her doorframe as if he owned the place.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he said with a smile.

“Maybe I have,” she said flatly.

“Then I hope it was flattering.”

“Alex, what do you want?”

He stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. “Just checking in. You didn’t reply to my message.”

“I wasn’t planning to.”

“That’s rude,” he teased lightly. “Especially when someone’s trying to help you.”

She stood. “Help me? Is that what you call cryptic texts from unknown numbers?”

He smirked. “You recognized the initials.”

“That doesn’t make it appropriate.”

“Maybe not,” he said, his tone dropping slightly, “but it makes it necessary.”

She folded her arms. “Necessary for what?”

“For you to stop trusting Damian blindly.” His expression shifted—less playful now, more deliberate. “You’re smart, Kayna. I think you already know something’s off.”

She swallowed hard. “You’re trying to start something between us.”

“Maybe I am,” he said without shame. “But that doesn’t mean I’m lying.”

She hesitated, trying to read him, but Alex was too good at masks. Too charming, too self-assured. The kind of man who said half-truths like confessions.

“What are you implying?” she asked finally.

“That my dear brother,” he said, stepping closer, “isn’t half as noble as he pretends. And that the position you’re in—whatever it is—wasn’t entirely your doing.”

Her pulse spiked. “Meaning?”

He leaned in, his voice barely above a whisper. “You’re part of a deal, whether you realize it or not.”

The room tilted for a second. She took a step back. “That’s not true.”

He gave her a sad smile. “You want it not to be. I get that.”

“Get out,” she said, her voice trembling.

“Kayna—”

“I said get out.”

He studied her for a beat, then nodded slowly. “When the truth comes out, remember I tried to warn you.”

Then he left, closing the door softly behind him, leaving the air thick with his words.

You’re part of a deal.

She didn’t realize she was shaking until she sat back down. Her hands gripped the edge of her desk, trying to ground herself. Alex was manipulating her—he had to be. But the problem was, his words matched the unease that had already been eating away at her.

A deal. A plan. A strategy.

Her mind drifted back to the conversation she’d overheard between Damian and Julian. The phrasing was too similar to ignore.

Her chest tightened, her breath shallow. She needed answers—but not from Alex. Not from gossip. From Damian himself.

That night, she stayed late again. The office was quiet, most of the lights dimmed, the hum of the city just a faint whisper beyond the windows. She stared at Damian’s door, debating whether to knock.

Finally, she stood and walked toward it, her heart pounding.

But before she could lift her hand, she heard voices inside. Damian and Julian again.

She froze.

“If they force the clause, we’ll have no choice,” Julian said, voice tense.

“You know what that means.”

“I know,” Damian said. “But she doesn’t.”

Kayna’s blood ran cold.

“You can’t keep her in the dark forever,” Julian warned. “She’s not blind, Damian. She’s starting to see things.”

“And if she does?” Damian’s voice hardened. “Then I’ll deal with it.”

“You can’t keep using her as leverage,” Julian snapped. “She’s not part of this world—”

“She is now,” Damian said, final and quiet. “Whether she knows it or not.”

Kayna’s breath hitched, and before she could move, her phone buzzed in her hand—loud in the silence. She scrambled to silence it, but the sound was enough.

The voices stopped. Footsteps.

She turned and hurried down the hallway, her pulse slamming in her chest. She ducked into the stairwell just as Damian’s office door opened.

She didn’t wait to see if he followed.

That night, Kayna sat on her bed, staring at her reflection in the dark window. Her thoughts were shards of glass—fear, anger, heartbreak all cutting at once.

Everything Alex said was true.

She’d been part of a plan.

A strategy.

A pawn.

She thought of Damian’s apology, his strange warmth, the moments that had almost felt real—and now realized they might have been calculated from the start.

Tears burned in her eyes, but she blinked them back. She wouldn’t cry. Not for him. Not for anyone who saw her as expendable.

Her phone buzzed again. A new message.

Now you understand.

— A.M.

Her hands tightened around the phone until her knuckles whitened.

“Not yet,” she whispered. “But I will.”

And in that moment, she made herself a promise:

She would find out what Damian Marshall was hiding.

Even if it meant destroying whatever was left between them.