Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
The weight of my family’s expectations presses against my chest like a vice, suffocating and relentless.
I don’t know how long I sit there, staring at my father’s portrait, feeling the invisible strings tying me to a history I never asked for.
But it’s all I ever wanted. A family.
I just never would have guessed they would be powerful, secretive, extraordinary.
Cameron’s words echo in my head, looping over and over.
His warnings.
His certainty.
His unwavering belief that he knows what’s best for me.
But the worst part?
A small, traitorous part of me wonders if he’s right.
The door creaks open but I don’t turn around as I stand.
“I figured I’d find you here.” My mother’s voice is softer than I expect. I hear the quiet brush of fabric as she steps inside, her presence warm but heavy.
She doesn’t say anything at first.
Just stands beside me, both of us staring at the portrait. My father’s painted face looks down, stoic, distant, permanent.
Permanently etched onto canvas, forever stuck inside of this golden frame instead of beside us where he belongs.
“He would’ve been so proud of you,” she says finally, her voice catching. “He always wanted a daughter.”
My throat tightens. I wish I could be in the mood for a sentimental conversation, but just as I escaped from the orphanage into a new world, I’m now locked inside this one.
“I figured I would explore the rest of the estate today since I’m now a prisoner.
” The words hit somewhere deep. Somewhere I didn’t know I was guarding.
“You’re not a prisoner.” Mom replies.
I fold my arms tightly across my chest. “Why does it feel like I’m just a piece on a board you and Cameron keep moving around?”
She takes a breath, steadies herself. “We’re not trying to control you, Magnolia. We’re trying to protect you.”
“By keeping me locked in this house?” I shoot back. “By stealing my phone to text Bria, watching where I go, deciding who I can see, like Sin?”
Pain flickers across her face, but she holds my gaze.
“You don’t understand what’s at stake.”
“I think I understand quite well,” I feel guilty getting this tone with her, but I need to stand up for myself. “You want me to be a part of the family, to play along. It seems like a pretty important time for me to talk to Sin, to sort our alliance out, but I’m not allowed.”
She hesitates. Her expression shifts. Something softer, something almost afraid. “There’s more going on than you know,” she says quietly.
“Then tell me.” My voice lowers, almost a plea. “Please.”
She studies me for a long beat. Then finally, she whispers, “Cameron will explain soon.”
The fire that’s been simmering in my chest flares.
“Of course he will,” I mutter, turning away. “Always him.”
The silence between us is tight, stretched thin.
I don’t know what I want her to say next.
But I’m not prepared for the way her voice wavers when it finally comes.
“I don’t want to lose you again, Magnolia.”
My throat tightens.
I squeeze my eyes shut, willing myself not to let those words sink in. Not to let them break through the wall I’ve spent years building.
But I feel it pressing against me, the weight of what my absence must’ve done to her.
I take a slow breath.
“I don’t want to be lost.”
She reaches for my hand, her touch tentative, careful, like she’s not sure I’ll let her.
Her fingers close around mine. “Then trust us.”
“I do.” I sigh, leaning into her embrace. “I’m sorry.”
She chuckles, “Nothing to apologize for, love. We missed out on a lot of things, mother daughter fights being one of them.”
I chuckle at her response, “Are we safe?”
“Yes, you saw we hired extra security. And Zeik will be here,” Her eyes roam around mine. “He cares for you.”
I recall how kind he was the day he picked me up on the side of the road. “Yeah, he does.”
Sleep doesn’t come.
I lie in bed, staring at the ceiling, sheets tangled around my legs like chains I can’t shake off. My thoughts keep looping, chasing themselves in circles. Cameron’s words, my mother’s touch, the portrait of a father I never got to know. It all presses in, too much and not enough all at once.
I try turning over. Then again. And again.
No matter what position I land in, the ache in my chest doesn’t change.
A buzz.
Sharp and sudden in the stillness. My heart lurches.
I reach for my phone on the nightstand, expecting… I don’t know.
But not this.
Sin.
His name lights up the screen, and for a second, I don’t breathe.
Just seeing it is enough to send a jolt through my whole body.
I should ignore it.
I should.
But my thumb moves before I can stop it.
I answer.
Silence.
Not the kind you get when someone’s trying to figure out what to say. This silence is thick, charged, like he’s just listening to me breathe. Or maybe trying to steady his own.
I almost ask if it was a mistake. If he meant to call me at all.
But then…
“Are you okay?”
His voice.
It’s quiet, rough, like gravel and regret. Like he’s been biting the inside of his cheek all night to keep from dialing.
I press the phone tighter to my ear, closing my eyes.
“I don’t know,” I whisper.
Because it’s the truth. I don’t. I feel like I’m suspended in midair, no solid ground, no clear direction, just this gnawing uncertainty eating at the edge of every thought.
He doesn’t say anything right away.
But I hear the faint exhale, like the answer hurt him.
“Meet me.”
Two words.
But they land like a lifeline.
I sit up in bed, heart hammering. My hand trembles slightly as I push the blanket away, the cold air kissing my bare shoulders.
“Sin…”
“Please.”
It’s barely a whisper.
But that one word , please, undoes everything.
He never begs. Not him.
“Do you know what’s going on?”
“Bria talked to me.” He sighs, “Your brother called me.”
I press my palm to my chest like that will somehow slow my racing heart.
I know I shouldn’t go.
I know what everyone would say, what I would have said to myself just days ago.
But none of that matters. Not when it’s his voice in the dark.
Not when I’ve felt so lost, and he’s the only thing that’s ever made me feel found.
I take a shaky breath.
“Where?”
There’s a pause. I can almost picture him now, leaning against a wall somewhere, maybe running a hand through his hair, trying not to sound too desperate.
“I’m outside, bring Axle. I’ll meet you by the park and watch your every step to make sure you’re safe.” He says finally. A beat. Then, softer. “I just… need to see you.”
And God, I need to see him too.
But I can’t let that show. Not yet.
“Give me ten minutes.”
I hang up before I can second-guess myself.
The park is empty when I arrive, the air crisp with the promise of an approaching storm.
The streetlights cast golden halos on the pavement, flickering slightly in the breeze. It’s so odd to meet him here, at this little park by my house. Sin Donati on the Rusco side.
Sin stands near a sprawling tree, hands in his pockets, his expression unreadable.
For a moment, we just look at each other.
Then, without thinking, I take a step forward.
“You shouldn’t have called,” I say quietly.
His lips twitch in something that isn’t quite a smile. “And yet, you’re here.”
I hate that he’s right.
I wrap my arms around myself. “What do you want?”
Sin exhales, looking up at the sky for a moment before locking his gaze on mine. “You.”
The word knocks the air from my lungs.
But before I can respond, he continues, his voice rough.
“I know you don’t trust me right now. I know you think I had those blueprints for a nefarious reason.”
He steps closer, his dark eyes searching mine.
“But Magnolia, I swear to you, everything I did was to keep you safe.”
I shake my head. “I don’t need you to protect me, Sin. I need you to be honest with me.”
His jaw tightens. “Then listen to me carefully.”
I do.
And what he says changes everything.