Chapter 11

KASMINE.

"I am so sorry. I..." I said, heaving a sigh of frustration.

The phone felt slippery in my hand as I clutched it tightly, careful to keep my voice low. My heart pounded with an anxious rhythm that almost left me breathless.

"Kasmine... I know it's not your fault, but how many more apologies will you have to offer?" He questioned.

"I'm trying, Jake," I whispered, pressing my palm against my mouth to muffle the words. "I don't know how to make him see reason. Kester is—he's suffocating me." My voice cracked, and I bit down hard on my lip to stifle a sob.

On the other end, Jake's silence lingered for a beat too long before he finally spoke. "Mine, you have to fight for yourself. You deserve your own life. He can't keep dictating everything you do." His voice was so gentle that it made my chest ache more.

He chose to call me 'Mine'.

From Jake, the name felt sweet, almost natural, as if the name belonged to me and not to his control. But from Kester… it was different. Every time he said it, the word wrapped around me like chains—possessive, inescapable, suffocating.

Kester made it specific that he was the only one allowed to call me Mine. He claimed the name as his own, made it clear that no one else was allowed to utter it. But Jake didn't know that, and I couldn't bring myself to stop him. He'd chosen it on his own, just as Kester had, drawing it from my name in an innocent way.

Why should it matter? Why should it feel like I was betraying something—or someone—when it wasn't meant to belong to him in the first place?

I turned my head towards the door, my gaze darting to the thin sliver of light spilling through the gap at the bottom. The last thing I needed was Kester knowing I had a secret phone, which I used in communicating with Jake.

If he ever found out... The consequence is something I don't want to think about. No. Not now.

"I don't know how to fight him," I admitted in a hoarse whisper, gripping the phone tighter. "It's like he's everywhere. Watching. Controlling. I—" My voice broke off as tears threatened to spill, and I drew a shaky breath. "I'm tired, Jake. I just want to be free. To live my life without feeling like I owe him every moment of it."

He sighs, "If your brother keeps up like this, we'll never have the chance to spend any time together. You deserve happiness, and it kills me to know you don't have it." He said in his usual calm tone.

I could tell. He was tired. For someone who was still trying to woo me, he must have exhausted his patience already.

We've not had the opportunity to feel the things people feel when they are at this stage of a relationship. There isn't any thrill, memories, excitement, anticipation... Just name it!

A sudden creak broke the quiet, and my blood ran cold.

Footsteps. Coming closer.

"Jake," I hissed, my voice barely audible. "He is coming." My hands trembled as I scrambled to think. My eyes darted to the room, searching for a place to hide the phone.

I usually hid it inside a box of sanitary pads and tossed it under the wardrobe. But right now, I didn't have the luxury of time for that.

The footsteps stopped just outside my door. The handle jiggled once, twice. My heart leaped into my throat.

With a desperate move, I slid the phone between my thighs, gripping it tightly as I perched on the edge of the bed. My breath came in shallow bursts, and I forced myself to appear calm even as terror clawed at my insides.

The door burst open, slamming against the wall with enough force to rattle the picture frames.

His forest-green eyes scanned the room, narrowing as they landed on me.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, suspicion reeking off of him. He couldn't even hide it.

I swallowed hard, my throat dry. "N-nothing," I stammered, my hands gripping the edge of the bed to keep them from trembling. "I was just sitting here."

He took a step closer, his gaze piercing as if he could see through my lies. My thighs clenched involuntarily around the phone, praying to the moon goddess that he doesn't find out.

He'd kill Jake.

Then, he'd kill me.

"I heard you talking. Who were you talking to?" He asked, slowly stepping in and taking in my surroundings before his gaze landed on my phone on the dressing table.

Fuck. Now, I couldn't lie to have been making a regular call with Claire. My phone isn't even close to me.

"I wasn't talking to anyone, Kester. I was talking out loud to myself. Isn't that what you like? Me being alone, isolated, and miserable?" I asked with an eye roll, trying to be at the offensive before he picked offense instead.

He stared down at me with cold detachment before walking out without saying a word. His silence scared me to death. I'd rather have him scold and question me than act as if nothing happened.

Kester Hilton's silence was deadly.

***

Morning came quickly for me. Thankfully, Kester asked one of his drivers to take me to the office because he had other important things to take care of.

I couldn't be more grateful. As soon as I stepped into my large office, I halted. Something strange caught my attention.

A table and a chair, indicating someone else's workspace, were set just adjacent to my space.

What the hell?

I looked around to see who this new person might be. Besides, why would Kester allow someone to share the office with me? I thought this space was meant for me alone - his assistant.

I tried calling him, but he wasn't answering his phone.

Shrugging off the questions, I proceeded with my day. By the time Kester arrived at the office, I was already too busy to care about whatever he intended to do in his office. It was his, not mine.

But why did he keep looking at me like that? Gods, the way his eyes linger sometimes—it does something to me, makes my stomach twist in ways I can't explain. I can barely hold his gaze; it's too much, too consuming. It makes me feel…

'Fuck. Stop it, Kasmine! Just stop!' I scolded myself, my thoughts spiraling down a path I refused to acknowledge. There's no way his stare - my brother's stare - should stir anything inside me. It's wrong. Sick. Twisted. And yet...

I was sorting through files when the sound of footsteps outside my office caught my attention.

My thoughts, my heart, and my world came to a screeching stop when my gaze rested on the two people walking toward my office.

What in the name of Selene?

No... no, this isn't happening.

My heart rate picked up, and my gaze drifted to where Kester sat. He lounged in his chair, completely at ease, his expression unreadable except for the faintest glint in his green eyes. He was watching me, waiting for my reaction as if daring me to make the wrong move.

My bottom lip trembled, and my gaze became blurry.

"Kasmine?" Riley, Kester's secretary, greeted with a beaming smile, "Here is your new colleague, Jake Anderson."

Jake Anderson...

My Jake.