Chapter6
419 Words
Kai Cross
Halfway through the gala, my father finally made his appearance.
Lucian Cross didn’t walk—he arrived. Like he owned the air around him. In a room full of sharks, he was still the one with the biggest bite.
He greeted me with a nod, then turned to Aurora.
She straightened, every muscle in her body hardening like glass cooling under pressure.
“Ms. Vale,” he said, voice smooth but sharp. “Or should I say, future Mrs. Cross.”
Her lips didn’t tremble, but her fingers curled slightly into her clutch.
“Lucian,” she said with practiced warmth. “Thank you for attending. It wouldn’t be a proper engagement announcement without you.”
He smiled. “How thoughtful. I do like to witness the beginning of things… especially the fragile kind.”
She met his gaze dead-on. “Then I hope you enjoy the view. This won’t break easily.”
Goddamn.
I watched them like a spectator at a gladiator match.
My fiancée versus my father.
A decade ago, Lucian destroyed her family.
Tonight, she didn’t flinch in front of him.
That should’ve alarmed me.
Instead, I felt something I hadn’t expected.
Pride.
Later that night, my father summoned me to his study.
Lucian Cross never asked. He demanded.
“Congratulations,” he said without looking up from the fireplace. “She photographs well. You looked in control.”
“I was.”
He turned, swirling scotch in his glass. “You think you’re playing her.”
“I know I am.”
“And what is she playing?”
I hesitated.
“...Survivor.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You feel sorry for her.”
“No. I just understand her.”
“She’s a Vale.”
“She’s my fiancée.”
“For now.”
I sat in the leather chair across from him, letting the silence stretch.
“What do you want, Dad?”
“I want you to be careful.”
“Since when?”
“Since you stopped seeing women as tools and started seeing them as... people.”
I laughed under my breath. “Terrifying development, I know.”
He looked at me with something close to disappointment. “Don’t fall in love with her, Kai.”
My smile vanished.
“I won’t.”
He stared me down. “Because love is weakness.”
“No,” I said quietly. “Because love is leverage.”
And Aurora Vale would never have that power over me.
Not again.
- Writer
