The question hung in the cool night air between them, amplified by the vast silence of the mountain peak. Kris's gaze, illuminated by the distant city lights and the soft glow of the moon, was unreadable, yet held an intensity that both unnerved and captivated Mia. He took a slow breath, the kind that indicated a decision to finally drop a heavy burden.
"What is this?" Kris repeated Mia's question, his voice a low, rough murmur. "It's... complicated, Brown." He walked a few steps closer to the edge, his back to the twinkling city, then turned to face her again, as if needing to confront this moment head-on.
"Look, I've always had everything planned. Every step, every goal. My father built an empire, and his expectations for me are... absolute. Every achievement, every success, it's not just for me; it's proving I'm capable of carrying on his legacy. This Case Competition? It was supposed to be just another notch on the belt, another 'Kris Windsor excels' moment." He scoffed, a dry, humorless sound. "But then Harrison dumped it on me last minute, the whole thing. It was a mess. A logistical nightmare. And for the first time, I felt genuinely overwhelmed. Scared, even, that I might actually screw it up. That I wouldn't live up to... everything."
He ran a hand through his hair, a gesture Mia now recognized as a sign of his internal turmoil. "And then there was you. This stupid bet." He paused, a ghost of a smile touching his lips. "Honestly, at first, it was just pure, unadulterated revenge. I was going to make your life miserable. Make you regret ever challenging me." His eyes met hers, and the intensity deepened. "But then you didn't break. You pushed back. You adapted. You surprised me, Mia. Constantly."
Mia listened, her heart thumping. The raw honesty in his voice was disarming. This wasn't the arrogant Kris she knew; this was a burdened, surprisingly vulnerable man, revealing the cracks in his perfectly constructed world.
"When I made you organize those files, or go to that briefing," he continued, his voice softening slightly, "it wasn't just punishment. I genuinely needed the help. I was stretched thin, and you... you delivered. Even when you hated every second of it." He chuckled faintly. "And then, with the play... on stage, it's like we just... fit. The lines, the emotions... it's like we were actually Hermia and Lysander, caught in this impossible mess."
He took another step, closing the distance between them until they were only inches apart. The air thrummed with unspoken electricity. "And off stage..." His voice dropped to a near whisper. "Watching Leo around you... It started to infuriate me. More than just a rival trying to steal my assistant. It was... I don't know what it was, Mia. It was new. It was possessive. And it was confusing as hell." He reached out, his hand hovering, then gently cupped her cheek, his thumb brushing lightly over her skin, mirroring the aborted gesture from the office. "When you looked at me, when you challenged me, when you made me laugh... even when you were glaring daggers at me, I felt... something. Something I haven't felt before. And back in that office, when I just let go... I just needed a second. And you were there. And it felt... right. For that one second, it felt right."
Mia could barely breathe. His words, his touch, the raw honesty in his eyes – it was overwhelming. She had hated him, challenged him, and now... now she saw the pressure, the hidden struggles, the vulnerability that made him so much more than the one-dimensional rival she'd cast him as. And his admission about Leo, about feeling possessive – it echoed James's words, confirming a truth she had desperately tried to deny. The blurring lines were no longer just a theatrical concept; they were a profound reality twisting her insides.
"I... I don't know what to say," Mia finally managed, her voice thick with emotion. "I thought I hated you. This whole week, I was just trying to survive your demands, to win the bet." She shook her head slowly, looking up at the countless stars. "But then you were Lysander, and you were... different. And then you made me do all these things, and I saw how much you actually cared about them, how much pressure you were under. And then... in the office. It was like I saw you, Kris, for the first time. Not the arrogant prodigy, but someone actually vulnerable."
Her voice trembled. "And Leo... he's nice, he's kind. But it's not... it's not the same. It's not this." Her hand instinctively reached up, covering his on her cheek, a fragile bridge between them. The full moonlight illuminated their faces, the raw emotion exposed.
A long moment of silence stretched between them, filled only by the distant hum of the city and the frantic beat of Mia's heart. The stars above seemed to shimmer with understanding, bearing witness to a truth that had been hiding beneath layers of rivalry and pride.