Chapter 38: Thirty Eight

VIVIAN'S POV

I couldn't sleep. My heart was still pounding from the dream, from the shame, from the absolute lie that was my current existence. Kade is in my damn head, and I need him out.

I threw off the sheets, walked over to the windows, and pulled the curtain back just enough to look out at the grounds. The evening air looked cold and clean, a stark contrast to the sweaty, twisted mess of my sheets and my mind.

That's when I saw them.

Two shadowy figures, moving fast but trying to be quiet, slipping around the perimeter of the pool area toward the side gate. Finn and Sebastian. They were in civilian clothes, not the suits they usually wore, and they moved with the furtive, guilty urgency of teenagers sneaking out of their parents' house.

Seriously? Grown men sneaking out for a bender.

I watched them disappear through the gate. They were definitely off to get drunk and cause some kind of entitled chaos. I should have been annoyed, but mostly, I just felt a strange sense of detachment. It wasn't my problem. They could get wasted and get arrested for all I cared. They hated me anyway.

I leaned against the cool glass, letting the city lights burn into my vision. I didn't care about the Thorne brothers. I cared about the empty, cold weight in my chest, the feeling of the invisible leash Kade had wrapped around me.

★

I was still there, staring into the dark, when the lights of a sleek black sedan cut through the estate grounds. My gut tightened instantly. That’s not Kade’s usual car.

The car pulled up to the front entrance, and out stepped a figure I only recognized from guarded photographs and hushed conversations: Mr. Thorne. The elder Thorne, the one who actually owned this empire and Kade’s obedience. He was tall, severe, and looked perpetually angry, even from this distance.

He wasn't supposed to be home. The air instantly went from tense to utterly electric.

I knew the house staff would scatter like roaches. I knew the security would tighten up. And I knew the old man would immediately demand an accounting of his two younger sons.

The front door opened. I heard the sharp, booming sound of his voice even from the distance of the top floor.

“Where are Sebastian and Finn?”

My entire body went rigid. The question was a low-frequency shockwave that traveled up through the floorboards.

Now’s my chance. Now is the moment.

I could walk downstairs, or just call out, "They went out to drink, sir." It would be brutal, humiliating, and complete. They would be grounded, stripped of privileges, maybe worse. And they would finally leave me the hell alone. It would be sweet, deserved revenge for weeks of their petty, constant hostility.

I stood there, paralyzed, weighing the options: Revenge versus... what?

Then it hit me. A sharp, clear thought that sliced through my selfishness and spite.

Why do they hate me so much?

Because I'm here under false pretenses? No. Because I’m the one who might tell. I represent the rule-maker, the tattletale, the watcher. The outsider who holds the power to expose their indiscretions.

They hate me the way I hate Kade. I resent Kade because he's watching me, documenting my movements, taking my freedom. They hate me because I am a potential Kade for them. I am the surveillance.

It was a sick, twisted empathy, but it was real. I knew the cold dread of realizing someone else holds the proof of your guilt.

I couldn't do it. I couldn't become the thing I hated most.

I took a deep breath, smoothing my hair and pulling myself together. I walked out of my room and down the stairs, moving with deliberate, casual purpose toward the drawing room where I knew Mr. Thorne was waiting.

“Good evening, sir,” I said, keeping my tone polite but distant.

He turned, his eyes piercing. He was exactly as intimidating up close as he looked from afar. “Miss Jensen. I wasn't aware you were still awake. Do you happen to know the whereabouts of my sons?”

I met his gaze, holding it steady. I didn't even have to think about the lie. It just came out, smooth and convincing.

“Oh, yes, sir. They left about an hour or so ago. Sebastian said they had an unexpectedly late training session.” I even managed a believable little shrug. “Something about a new circuit at the gym? They didn't want to wake you.”

He studied my face, his eyes narrowed in scrutiny. I could feel the suspicion wavering on the edge of acceptance. He was used to lies, but this one was delivered with the perfect lack of enthusiasm. I was just the girl passing on a mundane message.

“Training. Right.” He dismissed me with a wave of his hand, already reaching for his phone. “Good night, Miss Jensen.”

“Good night, sir.”

I raced back to my room, my heart hammering. Close. Too close. I sat on the edge of my bed, waiting, listening to the heavy silence of the house.

★

It was pushing 2:00 a.m. when I heard the distinct, muffled click of the side gate. They were back. Probably drunker, definitely louder, and about to walk right into a brick wall of paternal authority.

I couldn't let it happen. Not after I'd risked my own neck to cover for them.

I pulled on a sweater, didn't bother with shoes, and slipped out of the main entrance, moving swiftly across the cold patio.

They were staggering slightly, whispering obscenities to each other, halfway to the front door.

“HEY!” I hissed, a loud, sharp whisper that sounded deafening in the quiet night.

They froze, two startled deer caught in the moonlight.

Sebastian whirled around, drunk and belligerent. “What the f—Vivian? What do you want, psycho?”

I ran up to them, grabbing Sebastian’s arm, which was clammy and cold. “Shut up! Your father is home. He came home hours ago. He asked where you were. I covered for you.”

The belligerence instantly drained from Sebastian's face, replaced by a cold, sober terror. Finn’s eyes went wide, and he immediately started patting down his clothes, checking for any telltale evidence.

“You… you covered for us?” Finn whispered, his voice incredulous.

“I told him you were at a late training session at the gym. Now, fix your collars, rub your damn eyes, and get rid of the liquor breath. You look like two toddlers who stole a wine cooler.” I pushed them toward the entrance. “And don't screw this up.”

They scrambled to compose themselves, adjusting their clothes, pushing the drunken slackness out of their faces. They looked at me, a moment of confusion and shock passing between them, before they slipped inside, moving with a sudden, controlled efficiency.

I waited outside for another five minutes, just to be sure. No shouts. No door slamming. Only the heavy, luxurious silence of the mansion.

I finally walked back to my room. I was pulling off my sweater when there was a quiet, almost imperceptible knock on my door.

I opened it a crack. It was Sebastian. He looked pale, sobered by adrenaline, and intensely uncomfortable. Finn was hovering a few feet behind him.

Sebastian looked at the floor, then briefly met my gaze. The forced arrogance was gone. All that was left was a grudging, defeated honesty.

“Thanks,” he mumbled. It sounded like he was trying to swallow ground glass. “You didn't have to do that.”

“Yeah,” Finn added, nodding stiffly from the background.

I just stared at them for a beat. No need for a dramatic lecture. They got it.

“Don’t make me regret it,” I finally said, my voice low. “Go to bed.”

I closed the door gently. I didn't do it for them. I did it for me. Because in that moment, when they were exposed and vulnerable, I saw a reflection of my own humiliation under Kade’s constant gaze.

We are all just puppets trying to sneak off the stage.

Lying in bed, the dream was finally gone, replaced by a strange sense of quiet victory. The hostility from the brothers might not be gone forever, but for now, it was a truce. I hadn't exposed the watched. I had stood with them. And that, in this house of mirrors and monsters, felt like a win.

I protected

the enemy. Maybe I’m learning how to play the game after all.