Chapter 6

Jillian Chapman POV:

Grayson had read his sister' s journal. I knew it. The evidence was in his eyes, in the way he avoided my gaze when we crossed paths in the hallway, in the subtle pallor of his skin. He was haunted. The truth, finally unveiled, was a corrosive acid, eating away at his carefully constructed delusions.

I never mentioned the journal. I never brought up the past. I simply existed, a quiet, almost spectral presence in his lavish home, moving with a purposeful, silent grace. My silence was a more potent weapon than any accusation.

Kiera Lara vanished. Not with a bang, but with a whimper. I overheard whispers from the maids, hushed phone calls in Grayson' s study. He hadn' t just dismissed her. He had systematically dismantled her life.

"She lost everything," I heard his assistant, a nervous young man, confide to a housekeeper. "Malone sent her entire family' s assets to a shell corporation in the Cayman Islands. And then the tapes... the ones Kiera made, implicating herself in the Miles scandal... they just 'appeared' on every major news outlet. She' s facing multiple lawsuits. Fraud, defamation, conspiracy. They say he even leaked something about her offshore accounts. The IRS is involved."

A ghost of a smile touched my lips. Grayson, ever the predator. He knew how to destroy. And he was doing it for me. A twisted, violent act of atonement. It was a satisfaction, a cold, hard justice.

I remembered the whispers in the Columbia halls, the veiled looks, the thinly disguised disdain. "Jillian Chapman, the professor who slept with her student." "Dr. Miles, the pervert who preyed on young women." Kiera had orchestrated it all, planted the seeds of doubt, woven the web of lies. She' d always hated me, envied my intellect, my connection to Grayson. She saw me as a threat, a usurper of her rightful place by his side.

I had tried to ignore her, to rise above the petty jealousy. I had defended Grayson, fiercely, against the accusations that he was a manipulative student. I had, foolishly, believed in him, believed in us. When the university called me in, questioned my ethics, my judgment, I had stood firm, refusing to betray him, refusing to deny our love, even as it cost me everything.

"You could just say he took advantage of you, Professor Chapman," the dean had urged, his voice oily with concern. "We could protect your career. And then we could deal with your father' s... unfortunate situation."

"No," I had said, my voice shaking but resolute. "I love Grayson. And my father is innocent. I will not lie."

And my reward? Betrayal. Institutionalization. The loss of my son. The deaths of my parents. Kiera had been the architect of it all, fueled by her obsessive love for Grayson and her venomous hatred for me.

The door to my room clicked shut. I stood there, leaning against it, cutting off Grayson' s lingering gaze. He had been watching me from the hallway, a haunted look in his eyes.

A small thump against my leg. Ida. She had dropped a colorful book and launched herself into my arms, her small body a warm, solid comfort.

I hugged her tightly, burying my face in her soft hair. "My sweet girl," I murmured, kissing her forehead. I reached into my pocket, pulling out a small, individually wrapped piece of candy. "For you."

Ida' s eyes lit up. She unwrapped it carefully, popped it into her mouth, then looked at the remaining candy in my palm. My gaze drifted to the corner of the room, near the large armchair where Adam often sat, reading. He was there now, hunched over a thick book, pretending not to notice us.

Ida, sensing my unspoken thought, held out her candy. "Adam, do you want one?" she asked, her voice sweet and innocent.

Adam flinched, his shoulders tensing. He didn' t look up. He was still wary, still distant.

"He doesn' t like candy, sweetie," I said gently, but Ida shook her head.

"He does! He told me! He only pretends not to. I brought this one just for him!" She held out the candy, a small offering of friendship.

Adam slowly raised his head. His eyes, so like Grayson' s, were wide and hesitant. He looked from Ida to me. "Is that... is that for me?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

My heart ached with a strange, complex emotion. Adam. My little boy. A piece of my heart I hadn' t known how to reclaim. He was caught in the crossfire of a war he knew nothing about. The ice around my heart, painstakingly built over six years, began to crack, a tiny, almost imperceptible fissure.

I smiled, a soft, encouraging smile, and nodded. "Yes, Adam. Ida specifically chose that one for you."