Breakfast ended with the usual chaos — cousins arguing, elders murmuring, chairs scraping against the floor. But beneath all that noise, something else was happening.
The elders exchanged a look.
Aiden noticed it first. Adrian noticed it second.
But no one else did.
One of the uncles cleared his throat. "Aiden. Adrian. Come with us."
That was all. No explanation. No details. Nothing that would reveal who they really were.
To everyone else, it looked like the elders simply needed help carrying something or discussing family matters.
Amara watched Adrian stand, calm and unreadable, following the elders with Aiden right behind him. They didn't look back. They never did.
Their world was hidden. And she wasn't allowed to see it.
The cousins began drifting away to their own tasks.
Selene went to help in the kitchen. Cassian and Orion disappeared to the backyard, still arguing. Lyra slipped away quietly, unnoticed by most.
Amara headed toward her room, trying to shake off the memory of Adrian's teasing under the table — the touch, the smirk, the way he acted like nothing happened.
Her face warmed again.
She pressed her hands to her cheeks. "Get it together," she whispered to herself.
But somewhere else in the house, another girl was struggling too.
Lyra's Room
Lyra sat on her bed, knees pulled to her chest, her phone glowing softly in her hands.
On the screen were pictures of Adrian.
Some from family gatherings. Some from random moments she had captured quietly. Some where he wasn't even looking at the camera.
Her thumb hovered over one picture — Adrian standing near the garden, sunlight hitting his hair, his expression calm and distant.
The same expression he wore when he rejected her.
Her chest tightened.
She remembered every word.
"You're young.""You should focus on your studies.""You're like a little sister.""I don't feel that way about you."
She swallowed hard.
She had told herself she was over it. That she had accepted it. That she could move on.
But then she saw him at breakfast.
Saw the way he sat beside Amara. Feeling jealous.
Lyra's fingers curled around her phone.
"Who is this special person?" she whispered.
She wasn't stupid. She wasn't blind. She saw things others ignored.
The way Amara followed him everywhere. The way Adrian never pushed her away. The way he looked at her sometimes — quietly, secretly.
Lyra's heart twisted.
"If he rejected me… then who did he accept? Is it Amara? No..... maybe it's just because of her breakup."
She needed to know.
She needed to find out who Adrian liked — the girl he had mentioned when he rejected her. The girl he refused to name.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock.
"Lyra?" Selene's voice came from outside. "I'm here to help you with your assignments."
Lyra quickly locked her phone and sat up straighter.
"Come in," she said, her voice calm again.
Selene entered, carrying books. "You weren't answering. Everything okay?"
Lyra smiled — small, polite, practiced.
"Yes. I was just thinking."
Selene sat beside her. "About what?"
Lyra looked down at her hands.
"About… someone."
Selene raised an eyebrow. "Someone?"
Lyra didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
Because in her mind, she already knew:
She was going to find out who Adrian's "someone" was.
And once she did…
She wasn't sure what she would do.
But she knew one thing:
She wasn't going to lose quietly.