I blinked at him, caught off guard. “I’m training to be Gamma,” I said. It came out more like a question.
He stopped walking and turned to me.
“Everyone knows you joined the academy because of Darian,” he said, not cruelly, just honest.
“You’re good at it, but I’ve also seen the way you read medical texts. The way your eyes light up when you talk about anatomy, healing. You could do both. If you wanted.”
The fact that he noticed stunned me. Not just noticed—I mean, paid attention.
“I can’t afford it,” I said quietly. “Even if I wanted to go back, it's too expensive.”
“I own Steel Corp,” he said simply. “I’ll pay.”
I shook my head immediately.
“No. I don’t want to bring Martha’s wrath on us both. You know she’ll find a way to punish you. She already pushed your father to strip you
