Chapter 2 Masked confessions

The night air was heavy with silence as Veronica stood outside the private rooftop lounge Kelvin had chosen. She wore a dark trench coat, hood up, as if shielding herself from the truth she was about to face. Her fingers brushed the USB in her coat pocket-the copy of the video from the Bellvue Hotel.

She didn't trust Kelvin.But something deeper than logic had brought her here.

---

9:00 PM

Kelvin was already waiting, leaning against the edge of the rooftop, lit only by the city's glow and the flicker of a nearby candle. He looked... tired. Not the polished, charming billionaire from the gala. But someone unraveling beneath the surface.

"You came," he said softly.

"I almost didn't." She stayed near the door. "Who is Alton Frey?"

Kelvin didn't flinch. "You've been digging."

"Answer me."

Kelvin exhaled, slow and deliberate. "Alton was a whistleblower. My father fired him when he uncovered financial fraud tied to Fred. Before he could go public, he vanished. I tried to help him-but I was silenced. Legally. Financially. Threatened."

"And Jane?" Veronica challenged, stepping closer. "What about her in the hotel room?"

Kelvin's jaw clenched. "I wasn't sleeping with her. I met her to buy back evidence-security drives with encrypted data that could clear my name. She blackmailed me. She's working with Fred. Always has."

Veronica pulled out the USB and dropped it on the table between them. "You expect me to believe this?"

"No," Kelvin said. "I expect you to follow the trail yourself. I left breadcrumbs for you... because I knew you wouldn't just take my word."

She stared at him.

"Why me?" she asked. "Why not go to the police?"

Kelvin stepped closer. "Because I didn't trust anyone. Until you."

The words hung between them like smoke-fragile, possibly false.

Before she could respond, her phone buzzed.> Unknown: They're watching you. Leave now.

Her gaze darted around. A red laser briefly flicked across her sleeve. Sniper.Kelvin saw it too.He lunged forward and pulled her down behind a pillar just as a gunshot cracked the air.

---

Jane's Trap

Meanwhile, across town, Jane was watching them through a drone feed from a blacked-out SUV. Beside her sat Daniella, visibly shaken.

"You said we were just scaring her," Daniella muttered.

Jane smiled coldly. "Plans evolve. If Veronica walks away now, everything we built burns. We need her broken."

"She has a baby," Daniella snapped. "You think this is justice?"

"No, darling," Jane whispered. "This is business."

---

Veronica's Apartment

Rodriguez was scanning Veronica's laptop when he froze on something odd. The hotel footage had metadata inconsistencies. Timecode mismatches. Overlay tampering.He ran a reverse trace.Bingo.

The footage was doctored.He picked up his phone and called Veronica.

"She needs to know. Now."

---

Back on the rooftop, sirens echoed in the distance.Kelvin helped Veronica up, shielding her from view. His arm was bleeding-a graze from the bullet.As they moved toward the exit, she looked at him differently now. The man she thought was a manipulator... might actually be the one protecting her.

But just as they reach the stairwell, Veronica's phone buzzes again.> From Valerie: Veronica... I need to tell you something. I wasn't just your friend. I was hired-to watch you. By Fred who pretends to be Kelvin's father. You were never just "his love." You were a plan.

Veronica froze.Her world tilted.And behind her, Kelvin's voice cut through the wind.> "There's more I need to tell you."

---

The hospital room was too white. Too quiet.

Veronica lay in the sterile hush, cradling the small, warm weight in her arms. A boy-pink-skinned and wide-eyed, with a shock of dark curls that clung damply to his scalp. His name was Daniel.

She whispered it like a prayer.

Daniel.

She didn't cry when the nurses placed him in her arms. Not right away. The tears came slowly, as if her body had waited for this exact moment to finally break. To let go.

One week before she'd walked out on Fred, they'd shared a moment-a desperate, last-ditch attempt to salvage something that was already crumbling. Then came Kelvin. The rooftop. The bullets. The lies. The almost-truths.

Now... this.

Daniel.

She stared at him in disbelief, both awe and fear swirling inside her.

> Whose eyes are those?Fred's... or Kelvin's?Does it matter?

The panic settled in the pit of her stomach like a stone. She was in love with Kelvin. That wasn't in question anymore-not after everything. Not after watching him bleed to protect her. Not after the secrets he dared reveal, and the ones he was still fighting to uncover.

But love didn't erase reality.

What if Fred found out? What if he demanded a paternity test? What if Daniel was his?

Veronica swallowed hard and glanced toward the door. Kelvin had been waiting outside for hours, refusing to leave even after being told she "wasn't ready for visitors." And still, she knew he'd be there. That mattered more than any DNA.

She held Daniel closer, brushing her lips against his forehead.

"I don't care whose blood you carry," she whispered. "You're mine. And I'll protect you... from both of them, if I have to."

---

Later That Night

The hospital lights dimmed as Kelvin entered. No suit. No charm armor. Just him, raw and quiet. He paused when he saw her with the baby, something unreadable crossing his face.

Veronica met his gaze. "His name is Daniel."

Kelvin stepped closer, his voice thick. "He's perfect."

She nodded, studying him. "I don't know if he's yours."

"I know," Kelvin said, softly. "It doesn't change how I feel."

That stopped her.

Kelvin knelt beside the bed and looked down at Daniel with something close to reverence.

"I've spent my whole life running from my father's legacy, Veronica. But for the first time... I want to build something real. With you. With him."

Veronica's breath hitched.

"I don't need a test to tell me I want to be in his life," Veronica spoke to Kelvin.

Kelvin continued. "That's a choice I'm making. Not because it's easy. But because I choose you. Both of you."

And in that fragile moment-amid the machines and moonlight and the scent of newborn skin-something in her heart shifted.

She didn't know the truth yet.

But she knew this: Kelvin Larkson had lied to survive, yes. But he had loved her to live.

And so, for the first time in months, Veronica let herself lean into something terrifying and beautiful.

Hope.