Chapter 174 All I am to you

Chapter 174 All I am to you
Bastian doesn't answer immediately.
In those few suffocating seconds of silence, my brain violently fills the void, conjuring up every single worst-case scenario imaginable. My mind races to horrifying places....an accident, someone hurting her. It genuinely fucks me up. A cold, sickening panic spreading from the center of my chest all the way down to my fingertips until I can barely hold the phone steady.
"What're you doing today?" Bastian suddenly asks, his voice maddeningly measured. "We should talk about this in person."
"No," I snap, already shaking my head violently in the quiet of my room. "No. Just tell me right now. Is Talia okay? You're freaking me out!"
There’s a small, heavy pause on the line. "I’m sorry," he says softly, a rare flicker of genuine regret slipping into his tone. "I didn't mean to alarm you. I should've approached this differently."
"Bastian," I say, my voice dropping into a stern edge.
He sighs, the sound low and steady. "The living environment in that house is entirely unsuitable for a child, Kaden. Your stepfather has effectively gambled away what little savings they had left. The house is a war zone....constant screaming matches, heavy drinking, and blatant infidelity from both sides. Your mother's completely checked out, and your stepfather's bringing volatile creditors straight to their front door. It's toxic, unstable, and dangerous for a fourteen-year-old."
I stand there, trying to process the words, trying to form a coherent sentence, but I come up completely short. My brain feels like it’s short-circuiting. I run my hand roughly through my hair, gripping the strands just to anchor myself.
"How do you know all of this?" I ask, my voice trembling. "How do you know any of that, Bastian?"
"That's beside the point—"
"It's fucking not!" I scoff, the anger flaring up to swallow the panic. "Did you seriously... did you hire people to stalk my family? Did you run a full forensic audit on them behind my back?"
"I acted in your best interest," he replies smoothly, utterly conviction-bound. "And clearly, based on what was uncovered, I was entirely justified in doing so."
I stare blindly at the floorboards, trying to figure out if he’s actually being serious right now. He genuinely thinks this is normal. He genuinely believes that because the information is useful, I’m just going to wrap my arms around him and thank him for running a covert surveillance operation on my personal life.
He's always like this. One moment he’s unexpectedly sweet, holding me on a couch and kissing my forehead...and the next, he’s pulling calculated, boundary-shredding shit like this without a single second thought.
"Is that all I am to you?" The question slips out, bitter, and laced with deep hurt. "Just some project for you to manage? Some helpless, broken thing you get to control and fix whenever you're bored with your corporate empire?"
"Kaden, listen to me—"
I cut the call dead.
I pull the phone away from my ear, my chest heaving, and immediately pull up Talia’s contact. I don't care if I have to ring her fifty times in a row, she's answering me today.
As the screen dials, a string of banner notifications flashes across the top of my phone. A surge of new followers. I swipe the distraction away with a twitch of my thumb and press the phone back to my ear.
Then I pause. It’s a Thursday afternoon. She’s almost certainly sitting in a classroom right now. I’m about to hang up, deciding it’s better to call my mother and tear into her instead, when the line suddenly connects with a faint click.
"What do you want, Kaden?"
The tone is dripping with that tired teenage hostility.
I sink back down onto the edge of my mattress, swallowing the urge to jump straight in and demand confirmation about everything Bastian just dropped on me. I don't need to ask. Deep down, I know it's true. He wouldn't have brought that kind of nuclear information to me unless his twisted, boundary-violating investigation had proven it as fact.
"Are you not at school?" I start softly, keeping my voice grounded.
"I am," she says flatly. No further explanation.
I don't push it. "I’ve been calling you for days, Tal. Leaving texts. You haven't responded to a single one."
"No," she says, "I haven't."
I swallow hard around the lump in my throat. "Why not?"
She lets out a bitter scoff, her tone flipping into something condescending that makes her sound ten years older than she is. "Because I actually have real, important things to worry about, Kaden! Unlike you!"
I blink, stunned by the venom in her voice.
"I keep asking you to talk to me," I say, my voice cracking slightly as I lean forward, pressing my elbow to my knee. "I keep telling you to just speak to me, to tell me what's going on down there. How am I supposed to help you out if I have absolutely no clue what's happening?"
Silence stretches over the line. I can hear the muffled background of a high school hallway through the speaker, but she doesn't say a word.
"Tal..." I whisper, my anger completely dissolving into a hollow plea. "Please. Just talk to me."
The silence keeps stretching for so long that I think she’s hung up on me. But then, a ragged breath breaks through the receiver, and when she finally speaks, all the teenage venom is gone, replaced by a fragile tone that completely devastates me.
"Why won't you just let me come stay with you?" she whispers, her voice breaking on the last word. "I really don't wanna be here anymore."
The air leaves my lungs in one sharp, agonizing drop.
"I promise I won't cause any trouble," she begs, the quiet desperation spilling out faster now, uncontrolled. "I’ll be good, I swear. I'll do my own laundry and make my own food. I could sleep on the couch, you won't even know I'm there. I’ll stay out of your way, Kaden. Just... please let me come to you."
Every single word feels like a physical strike straight to my chest. It shatters something deep inside me, a sharp, suffocating ache radiating through my ribs until I can barely sit upright on the edge of the bed.
God, I feel like such an absolute failure of a brother.
While I’ve been out here trying to build a life, agonizing over rent, stressing over modeling gigs, and getting tangled up in Bastian's chaotic, gilded world, my little sister has been drowning in a house full of screaming matches. And now she's bargaining for a place on my floor like she's a burden to be tolerated.
My mind instantly shifts into hyper-drive, tearing through logistics. I have the money now. The Eclipse paycheck cleared, and Aaron’s cash is sitting in my pocket. I don't care about the campaign launch today. I don't care about the brand inboxes or the photo shoots or the unresolved fight with Bastian. I'm getting on a plane and flying out to get her.
I close my eyes tightly, forcing my voice to stay steady so she can't hear the sudden tear threatening to break through.
"Talia, listen to me," I manage to choke out softly, gripping the phone like a lifeline. "Don't worry. Okay? Everything's gonna be okay. I promise you."