"By the way... I should thank my mother-in-law and maybe the asshole father-in-law too, for making this secret sweetheart… super sexy, annoyingly cute, and painfully beautiful," Kairo murmured, his gaze shamelessly drinking her in.
She swatted his chest, cheeks flaming. "Don't over-praise. That's too cheesy."
"I'm not, darling." His voice slipped into a low, delicious whisper, a playful spark glowing in his eyes.
"Wanna be kicked out of the room?" she threatened, trying to wear her rebel mask in front of his never-ending flirting.
He chuckled softly and brushed a feather-kiss over her lips. "You won't. Because you're trembling inside while pretending to be a rebel outside," he murmured, turning her inside out with one sentence.
She bit her lip, eyes darting away, trying not to melt.
He saw it. He felt it. And he melted. His breath escaped in a light laugh, completely undone by her.
"Oho… my… don't…" He collapsed his forehead against her shoulder dramatically. "Don't do that, darling…. My heart is weak for that, I don't want to die so early," he clutched his chest with theatrical panic.
"Stop! What are you doing?" she laughed, horribly flustered and horribly in love.
Her giggle lit him up from the inside. He pulled back just to look at her. He kissed her cheek, once, twice, thrice, again, earning more giggles that made him feel so drunk on her.
"My dad is right…" he whispered between kisses.
She blinked at him softly.
"I'm lucky that you chose me." He pressed another warm kiss to her cheek, holding her like she was the only answer he ever needed.
She looked at him with a soft, breathy smile. "What happened to you suddenly?"
"Love attack…" he declared, wobbling dramatically, which made her giggle even more.
He placed a hand over his chest. "This soda glass is attacking my heart silently… without warning… What do you want, soda glass?" he asked, turning his gaze to her with theatrical suspicion.
She played along instantly, her lips curving. "Your heart." She pointed right at his chest like she was claiming land.
He gasped. "That was supposed to be not so easy!"
"Yeah, it wasn't," she replied, leaning into the drama, "but one hand job made it easy. And now I've captured the entire targeted location. This is my territory now."
His jaw dropped, eyes sparkling. "Which means I'm colonized for a lifetime?"
She chuckled. "Yes, darling. No escape. No rescue. This exotic beauty is mine to rule forever."
"Exotic beauty?" he repeated, leaning in as if the words themselves had seduced him. "So I'm officially a rare species now? Captured, tagged, and owned?"
She smirked. "Completely. You're not even on the market anymore."
He cracked up, collapsing against her with helpless laughter. She bubbled into laughs under him, their bodies shaking together, warm, bare, skin fitting against skin like they'd been carved to match.
"Then treat your lifetime captive well. Feed me, spoil me, cuddle me… maybe kiss me till I malfunction." He mumbled.
She smiled, "You are spoiled already..."
"Hmm... but not enough." He said.
She giggled.
He looked up at her with a teasing spark in his eyes. "By the way… who told you I fell for you because of your hand job?"
She choked on her breath, trying to clear her throat, and pushed him away. He laughed, leaning in even more just to fluster her.
And then, "I fell for you the moment you asked for my heart," he confessed.
She stilled. Her eyes lifted to his, searching.
He smiled softly and kissed her nose. "I fell for you right then. I just didn't understand the feeling at that time. That's why I came after you. I wanted to know you more, figure out what you stirred in me. Because it was new. It was different. Because everyone else came to me asking for pleasure… but you came asking for my heart."
Her eyes flickered, his truth reflecting clearly in them.
"I was in many relationships," he said quietly. "But it was less for love, more for physical pleasure. Once they were satisfied, they left, and someone new came in. I thought that's what relationships were supposed to be. But somewhere inside, I kept feeling something was missing. Something I deeply craved."
His hand found hers, squeezing gently. "And then you came," he whispered. "Asking for something different. At first, I was scared. Scared I'd fail. But something about you pulled me in anyway. Without warning. Without permission. And to be honest, I was happy like crazy, since the day I met you."
He rested his head on her chest, settling himself comfortably against her, voice muffled yet full of emotion.
"I started dreaming forever with you, Sara. That instinct to protect you, provide for you, it awakened in me. I wanted to marry you, have kids with you, give you every piece of myself. You brought out a version of me I didn't even know I had. A version I had buried behind hookups, flings, and noise."
He swallowed. "That day, after the exam, I was desperate to see you. To touch you. To embrace you. I planned to propose that day for marriage. I bought those flowers for you. I decided I'd join Dad's company, settle down, build a life with you."
A shiver passed through him. "But then… that one moment ruined everything."
He lifted his head, eyes aching. "I wish I hadn't seen you that day with your dad. I wish I had listened to what you were talking to him. I wish I had controlled my anger. I wish, just one wish, something had stopped me. Because then I wouldn't have lost you. And you wouldn't have suffered because of me."
Her eyes shimmered with emotions rushing in. His voice cracked as he continued.
"Even after I broke your heart, I kept craving you. I was angry, angry that, why you had to be his daughter? angry at myself for reacting the way I did. I even tried to find you after that incident for about a year. But I couldn't, there was no sign of you. Maybe I didn't try hard enough… or maybe I was scared of what I'd find. At some point, I was terrified that I hurt you so much that you might have done something horrible to yourself. And I was not courageous enough to witness something I was scared of. "
He inhaled sharply. "I was restless, Sara. All those years. My head was full of noise, guilt, anger, and frustration. I tried to distract myself the old way, with meaningless things. But I couldn't. Whenever I even got close to someone, your face came in front of me. And I'd end up feeling disgusted with myself."
His hands cupped her face, voice low and vulnerable. "So I buried myself in work. I burned through my anger, tried to kill the noise… until you walked in my life again with Zayn."
He exhaled deeply, truth pouring out like a long-held confession finally released.
"Even then… I messed up," he breathed out, voice low and thick. "I ended up hurting you even more. I'm really a dickhead. I don't even understand why you're so good to me. Why do you love me this much?"
His shoulders dropped as if the weight of his regret finally settled.
Sara cupped his face gently, thumbs soft against his skin, her eyes glossy with tears. "Because my heart always chooses this dickhead," she whispered, her voice trembling adorably. "And it won't let me look at anyone else."
A helpless chuckle escaped him, and she let out a teary laugh in return. He kissed her... suddenly, steadying himself with her taste so he wouldn't completely fall apart.
When he pulled back, his breath brushed her lips. "I promise I won't hurt you ever again. If I do… just kill me," he whispered.
She shook her head gently, smiling in tears, "I can't. You charm me too much. I'll end up falling for you again instead of killing you."
He chuckled. Lowering himself into her embrace, "You are unbelievable," he murmured.
He buried his face in her neck, inhaling her like her warmth had its own gravity.
"Hmmm…" he hummed, satisfied, arms tightening around her waist. "Anyway, this is so warm and so perfect here. I don't want to be rescued from here… if you had trapped me, ever."
She giggled, fingers slid into his hair, slow and tender. "Good. Because this is your home now."
He kissed her neck, lingering, fingers squeezing her hips, her waist, her softness; every place his hands wandered became his favorite place.
She pressed little kisses into his hair every few seconds, instinctively, lovingly.
A beat passed. His lips curved against her skin, teasing. "Good night… step sister."
She slapped his back immediately, a mix of scandal and laughter. He muffled a giggle into her neck, then gathered her closer.
"Ummmaaa…" he pressed a long, affectionate kiss to her warm skin. A final tender claim.
She smiled, eyes closing, holding him tighter, letting the night settle around them, soft, warm, unguarded.
Their own strange heaven.
"Thank you, baby. For everything," he whispered.
"I love you," she whispered.
He smiled. "I love you too."
"By the way... what did you think about Project Baby Girl?" He whispered out of nowhere.
"It's 3 am, sleep now," she shut him up, still eyes closed.
He giggled, that adorable sleepy smug giggle he only did when he was wrapped around her.
"Hmm," he mumbled, already sinking into her warmth, drifting into dreamland like her arms were a lullaby.
Meanwhile, Vector sat alone on the tall stool by the mini–bar in his house, nursing a drink that did nothing to cool the fire inside him. Every word Sara had thrown at him replayed like a taunt. The way Charles had stepped in between them, calm and unshaken. The way Kairo's eyes had burned with a fury that no longer belonged to a frightened boy but to a grown man who now stood as Charles's strongest shield.
Vector couldn't digest any of it.
Charles… happy again. With a family. With a daughter who once belonged to him and now stood boldly against him.
Every bit of it gnawed at him, feeding the blaze in his chest.
Sara's warning echoed the loudest, her threat to expose his past to Kael. It rattled him, scraping against the one fear he had buried deep.
The glass slipped from his hand, no, he threw it. It hit the marble floor, exploding into sharp fragments, mirroring the crack inside his pride.
"I'm not letting you walk away that easily," he growled, voice thick with rage. "You'll pay for what you did to me. Everyone of you will pay."
His words lingered in the empty house like a curse.