Chapter 50 What They Made Us Into
The car stayed quiet long after Kylen pulled back onto the road.
Not the peaceful kind of quiet.
The kind that sits heavy in your chest and refuses to leave.
I stared out the window, watching the streets blur past, but I wasn’t really seeing anything. My mind kept replaying everything from that building.
The file.
The photo.
That man.
And Kylen standing there like he had known all along.
“They weren’t watching us like that,” Kylen said suddenly.
I didn’t turn to him.
“Like what?”
“Like you’re thinking,” he replied. “It wasn’t… some big operation. It was smaller than that.”
I let out a quiet breath. “Then explain it to me in a way that actually makes sense.”
He hesitated, then nodded slightly like he had made a decision.
“It was a behavioral center,” he said. “Private. Not something most people even knew about. Families sent kids there when they didn’t know what else to do.”
That made my stomach twist.
“Kids like me?” I asked.
“Kids who were struggling,” he corrected. “With emotions. Reactions. Anger. Anxiety. Things that got… out of control.”
I frowned slightly.
“That still doesn’t explain why I don’t remember it.”
Kylen’s grip tightened on the steering wheel.
“Because you were really young,” he said. “And because your father didn’t want you to remember.”
That hit harder than anything else.
“My dad?”
He nodded once.
“He thought it would be better if you forgot. Like it never happened.”
I turned to him now, my chest tightening.
“He sent me there?”
Kylen didn’t sugarcoat it.
“Yes.”
The word sat heavy in the air.
I leaned back slowly, my thoughts spiraling again, but this time it felt different. Less confusion. More… hurt.
“He never told me,” I whispered.
“Most parents don’t,” Kylen said quietly. “Not when it comes to things like that.”
Silence settled again, but this time it wasn’t sharp. It was… sad.
“What about you?” I asked after a moment. “Why were you there?”
Kylen exhaled slowly.
“My mom sent me,” he said. “Said I had anger issues.”
I looked at him properly this time.
“And did you?”
A faint, humorless smile touched his lips.
“Yeah,” he said. “Still do sometimes.”
That made something in my chest soften, just a little.
It didn’t fix anything.
But it made him feel real again.
“And we met there?” I asked quietly.
He nodded.
“You used to follow me around,” he said.
I blinked.
“What?”
“You were quiet,” he added. “Didn’t really talk to anyone. But you always paid attention. You noticed things before anyone else did.”
A strange feeling settled in my chest.
“I don’t remember any of that,” I said.
“I know,” he replied.
“And you never thought to tell me?”
Kylen glanced at me briefly.
“I tried,” he said. “A couple of times. But every time I brought it up, you looked… lost. Like it didn’t mean anything to you. So I stopped.”
That didn’t make it hurt less.
“It should have been my choice,” I said.
“You’re right,” he admitted.
That surprised me.
No argument.
No defense.
Just honesty.
Adrian finally spoke from the back seat, his voice quieter now.
“So those people back there… they worked at that place?”
Kylen shook his head slightly.
“Not exactly,” he said. “More like people trying to clean things up after it shut down. Making sure nothing gets out.”
My grip tightened slightly.
“Nothing gets out,” I repeated.
“Records. Files. Information,” he clarified. “Things that could cause problems.”
“So they broke into my house for a file that proves I was sent away as a kid?” I asked.
“It’s not just that,” Kylen said.
“Then what is it?”
He hesitated again.
And I felt that frustration creeping back in.
“Kylen—”
“It’s not about what you did,” he said quickly. “It’s about what your father doesn’t want people to know.”
That stopped me.
“My father?”
Kylen nodded.
“He didn’t just send you there,” he said. “He had influence there. More than most parents.”
My heart dropped.
“What does that mean?”
“It means,” Kylen said carefully, “he made sure your records stayed buried when the place shut down.”
The pieces started clicking together slowly.
The hidden file.
The break in.
The call.
“They’re not just covering up the center,” I said quietly.
“They’re covering up him.”
Kylen didn’t confirm it out loud.
But he didn’t deny it either.
I leaned back again, my head spinning.
So this wasn’t about something being wrong with me.
It was about something being hidden from me.
Something my own father didn’t want me to know.
And suddenly…
That felt worse.
“Lenora,” Kylen said softly.
I didn’t respond right away.
Because I didn’t know how to.
Everything I thought I knew about my life felt… staged.
Carefully controlled.
And now it was slipping.
“I need to go home,” I said finally.
Kylen glanced at me. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
I met his gaze, steady this time.
“If my father is part of this,” I said, “then that’s exactly where I need to be.”
Silence followed.
Then Kylen nodded once.
“Alright,” he said.
And just like that…
The next confrontation was set.
Because this time…
I wasn’t going to wait for the truth.
I was going to ask for it.
Face to face.