Chapter Four:The Ghost between us
730 Words
Kelvin Reed had learned how to vanish in plain sight.
It was a survival skill, really. One he’d picked up from years of standing next to someone brighter. Damian had always drawn the attention. The praise. The spotlight. And Kelvin? He’d been the shadow that made Damian’s light look even more golden.
But shadows don’t stay still forever.
From the dim interior of his parked car across the street, Kelvin watched the entrance of Alaric Towers. A building he’d walked by a dozen times but never dared to enter. Not because he couldn’t — but because of what it would cost his pride.
He lit a cigarette with shaking hands, the flicker of the flame catching his reflection in the mirror.
Same face. More bitterness.
It wasn’t the skyline that ate at him. Or the posters of Damian’s face plastered across business magazines. It was the fact that everything Damian had—he had wanted first.
Including Selena.
He saw her walk out of the building just before noon. She was still as radiant as he remembered — no, more. More confident. More woman. The years had been kind to her, and cruel to him.
She didn’t see him. Of course, she didn’t.
She was too busy navigating her high-heeled steps, her phone in hand, her expression unreadable.
But Kelvin knew that look.
She’d been crying.
And for a moment, just a moment, he felt something sharp stab his chest. Was it guilt? Sympathy?
No.
It was rage.
She was hurting. And he wasn’t the one who caused it — or the one who could fix it.
Just like always, Damian was at the center.
And that? That was unforgivable.
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Back inside Alaric Towers, Damian stood before the large windows in his office, watching the city roll beneath him. The moment with Selena played on loop in his head — the way her voice trembled even when she tried to sound indifferent, the flash of old pain behind her eyes.
He’d once promised he’d come back for her.
Now that he had, he wasn’t sure she wanted to be found.
There was a knock.
“Come in,” he called without turning.
His assistant, Janine, entered. “Mr. Alaric, your security team flagged a car parked outside the building. Same vehicle has been lingering for the past three days. No registration match.”
Damian frowned. “A threat?”
“Unclear,” Janine replied. “We can run full surveillance or alert the police.”
“Not yet,” he said, voice low. “Just… keep an eye.”
But in his gut, Damian already knew who it was.
Kelvin Reed.
---
The gala was set for Friday night. Opulent. Lavish. A spectacle only Damian Alaric could deliver. But for Selena, it was a battlefield.
Every flower arrangement, every candlelight centerpiece, every polished surface — they were hers. Her name was attached to every design. This was her biggest contract to date.
And yet… she hadn’t slept in two days.
She’d seen something in Damian’s eyes during their last meeting. Regret. Maybe even longing. And worse — she’d felt something in return.
The past wasn’t a place she wanted to live in, but it kept knocking at her door.
She stood in the ballroom, finalizing the last stage of installation, when a voice behind her cut through the air like a blade.
“Well, well. Look who bloomed.”
She froze.
The voice was rougher than she remembered, tinged with sarcasm — but familiar.
She turned.
“Kelvin?”
He leaned against a marble pillar, arms crossed, wearing a smirk that didn’t reach his eyes.
“I heard Halewick’s little flower made it to the city,” he said. “Didn’t believe it until now.”
She didn’t know what to say. The boy she remembered had been quiet, brooding, loyal. The man before her looked… worn. Hardened.
“Kelvin,” she said again, cautiously. “What are you doing here?”
“Helping an old friend,” he replied, gesturing toward the setup. “Can’t let you and Damian have all the fun.”
Her stomach twisted. “You’re working with him?”
His eyes glittered. “Something like that.”
But Selena saw it then—the bitterness hiding behind the grin. This wasn’t a reunion. This was a reckoning.
And she was caught between two ghosts.
- Writer
