Chapter 2 In His Recollection

The light drained out of Kaylee's gaze. Fingers curling around her neck, she was seized by a series of harsh, tearing coughs that left her eyes swollen and brimming. Faced with Caden's cold, unyielding look, she didn't have the nerve to fabricate anything. "Someone I knew gave it to me when I was a kid."

"Who was it? Where did you meet them? And what made them hand it over to you?"

A cruel, icy gleam flashed through Caden's eyes. His hold around her wrist cinched tighter-the force so brutal it felt like her bones might splinter.

Pain welled up, spilling from Kaylee's eyes in thick, trembling drops. "I grew up in a place named Riverside Village when I was small," she forced out, her voice breaking. "There was a boy living next door-he was sick, and other kids kept picking on him. I stepped in to help once, and... he gave me this bracelet."

No sooner had the sentence escaped her lips than something in Caden's face seemed to crack. The cutting hostility that had been pouring off him dulled, the deadly frost around him finally starting to ease.

Kaylee bit back a sob, her chest hammering as he looked down at her, his expression impossible to decipher.

Why was he so hung up on this bracelet?

Without saying a word, Caden lifted a hand and pressed it beneath her chin, angling her face upward as he examined her with detached, almost surgical focus.

After a long, weighted pause, his eyes lowered. He pulled out a tissue, carefully dabbed away the tears streaking her face, and then turned sharply and walked straight into the bathroom.

What... what was that supposed to mean?

Kaylee lowered her gaze to the silver chain, a startling, almost unreal thought beginning to form.

So much time had gone by that she could no longer remember the boy's full name, but she still remembered calling him Cade back then.

Could that boy actually be Caden?

The scattered fragments of her past suddenly locked together.

In her former life, the bracelet had snapped while she fought desperately against the director. It must have slipped away in the chaos, only for Joyce to find it... and not long after, Caden had appeared at Joyce's side as her fiercely devoted "protector."

The Lloyd Group had handed Joyce every imaginable privilege and rare opportunity, while Caden mercilessly crushed anyone who even tried to oppose her.

Caden hadn't been shielding Joyce because of who she really was-he had been guarding her because of that bracelet and who he thought she was!

Kaylee's hands curled into tight fists. So Joyce hadn't just taken her family and the man she was meant to marry, she had also taken the very boy Kaylee once saved and befriended, turning his strength into a weapon to destroy her.

Kaylee was the true heiress of the Harris family, torn away from them when she was young. She had only been found again at eighteen, after a breakout role turned her into a well-known name across the country.

Back then, she had foolishly believed going back meant finally being wrapped in the comfort of a real family. What she got instead was a brutal reality check. Her mother couldn't take the grief and had died not long after she vanished, and her father had wasted no time bringing Joyce into the family to fill the void left by a missing daughter.

When Kaylee returned, her father and two elder brothers met her with nothing but cold distance, saving all their care and affection for Joyce. They had even pushed Kaylee to surrender the roles and endorsements she had earned through her own effort, all just to prop up Joyce's lackluster career in the entertainment world.

In her former life, Kaylee had taken on the role of the self-sacrificing fool, giving up everything they demanded in a hopeless attempt to earn their affection. In exchange, they had bartered her away to that hollow, monstrous man, Declan, all so they could lawfully lay their hands on the vast fortune her grandfather had intended for her alone.

She didn't vanish immediately after her death in flames; she lingered, forced to witness what came after. Once she was gone, the union between Declan and Joyce was celebrated openly-praised by all as a "perfect match." Any trace of Kaylee was wiped clean, and when her name did surface, it was spoken with nothing but disdain.

Kaylee utterly despised them. She loathed Joyce enough to wish her gone from this world. But above all, she detested the version of herself who had been foolish enough to beg for her family's love.

Yet the moment her gaze fell upon the darkened bruises and those suggestive marks staining her skin, her thoughts fractured.

What was she meant to make of what had happened last night?

Her fingers tightened around the duvet, dragging it close as her thoughts spiraled into disorder. From the bathroom, the low, constant rush of water filled the quiet.

Before long, Caden emerged, a towel hanging loosely around his hips.

Catching sight of her retreating into herself, clearly lost in thought, his brows drew together ever so slightly. He approached, placing his hand gently atop her head in a steadying motion. "What's wrong?"

Kaylee lifted her eyes, only for them to drift-unintentionally-toward the sharp lines of his chest and the defined planes of his abdomen.

The memories from the previous night came crashing back with startling clarity. Her face burning, she jerked back into the duvet as though stung. "I-I'm fine..."

Caden's expression tightened at the sudden absence of contact.

She was pulling away from him? In his recollection-the recollection of that small, sweet girl from the village-she had always clung to him, forever leaning close and chasing his warmth.

What had happened the night before might have been impulsive, but he felt no remorse over it. To him, she had always held a place apart from others. Now that they had crossed that boundary, he was fully prepared to accept whatever came with it. But the way she held herself now... did she want nothing to do with him at all?

Then it dawned on him. She was already engaged to Declan, and by every indication, she was deeply infatuated with him.

A flicker of cold irritation passed through Caden's eyes, a sharp, unfamiliar resentment rising within him. Masking it with indifference, he stepped away, retrieved a business card from his abandoned wallet, and placed it on the bedside table. His tone turned flat. "My assistant will bring you fresh clothes soon. I'm heading out. Call me if you need anything."

He paused before adding, "If it makes things easier for you, we can pretend last night never happened. Just think of me as your... friend."

Kaylee sensed the abrupt change in his voice, the widening distance woven into his words.

She pressed her teeth into her lower lip, watching in silence as he dressed and walked out, her eyes eventually falling to the rumpled sheets.

From the way he acted, it was obvious he wanted to bury what had happened and move on. But that was fine... it didn't matter.

Now that he knew her true identity, he would protect her because of what they once shared.

As long as she had his support-enough influence to shield herself and carry out her revenge-that alone would be enough.