Who Are You Again?

Chapter 7

The crisp Parisian morning should have been invigorating, but Jae's stomach churned as she stepped through the grand revolving doors of Devereaux Haute Couture. The air inside was thick with the scent of expensive perfume, fresh coffee, and tension. Floor-to-ceiling windows let in the morning light, casting long shadows across the minimalist white-and-gold décor. Every inch of the office screamed exclusivity, precision, and power.

Jae was about to earn her place here—or be chewed up and spit out like all the other interns before her.

She barely made it three steps inside before the whispers began.

"Who is she?"

"I heard she didn’t even interview—Vivienne must have pulled strings."

"Look at her. She doesn’t belong here."

Jae kept her posture relaxed, her expression unreadable. Let them talk. They didn’t know who she really was.

A sharp clack of heels against marble made Jae turn. A woman, tall, willowy, and utterly lethal-looking, approached with an unreadable expression. Celeste Laurent, Vivienne’s second-in-command and senior designer, was dressed in an immaculately tailored black dress, her icy blue eyes raking over Jae like she was inspecting flaws in a garment.

"You're late," Celeste said coolly.

Jae glanced at the gold clock hanging on the wall. 8:00 AM. Sharp.

"I'm exactly on time," she replied evenly.

Celeste's lips curled in something that was not quite a smile. "At Devereaux, being on time means you’re already behind."

With that, she turned on her heel. "Follow me." Jae was given no introduction, no warm welcome—just a job.

"Retrieve and organize these swatches by color, texture, and collection," a junior designer ordered, dumping hundreds of fabric samples into her arms. "You have twenty minutes."

Jae blinked. Twenty?

She hurried to the storage room, her mind racing. Silk, chiffon, organza, tweed—each swatch represented seasons of work, all jumbled together. A single mistake would be disastrous.

As she started sorting, she realized something was wrong.

Half the labels were missing. Some swatches had been deliberately swapped. Someone had sabotaged her.

Her heart pounded, but she didn't panic. Instead, she worked faster, relying on instinct. She had grown up in a house where one wrong step meant punishment. She had learned to adapt.

By the time she finished and rushed back, the designers barely glanced at her work before moving on.

"You’re late."

Jae's jaw clenched, but she simply nodded.

Celeste, watching from across the room, arched a brow.

"She didn’t break."

The hostility only escalated.

At the morning coffee run, Jae carried three trays of orders when a "careless" bump from Claudette, one of the other interns, sent a latte flying across an expensive hand-drawn design sketch.

The room froze.

Jae’s pulse hammered, but her face remained blank.

"You i***t!" Claudette hissed. "Do you have any idea how long that took?"

Jae calmly pulled a clean napkin from her pocket and dabbed at the edges, careful not to smear the ink further. Then, she met the designer’s furious gaze.

"Tell me what you need, and I’ll fix it."

The designer scoffed, but Jae didn’t apologize.

Celeste, still watching, noted the lack of fear in Jae’s eyes.

"Interesting."

Under Watchful Eyes

Across the room, unseen by Jae, Lucas observed.

Dressed in a sharp black suit, he leaned against the office railing, watching her like a predator watching prey. He had strict orders from Vivienne:

Observe, but do not intervene.

Jae had to prove herself—without special treatment.

He had read hundreds of reports on her before meeting her. The fragile, forgotten daughter. The pawn in a corrupt family. But what he saw today?

She was not fragile.

She was a storm waiting to break.

By the end of the day, exhaustion weighed on Jae's limbs, but she kept her posture straight, her face impassive.

Her final task? Delivering sketches to Vivienne’s office—a simple job, or so she thought.

She barely made it three steps into the hallway before Claudette blocked her path.

"Let me help," Claudette said sweetly, reaching for the folder.

Jae saw it coming a second too late.

The folder jerked, the papers tumbling to the floor, scattering everywhere.

"Oops," Claudette smirked. "Guess you should be more careful."

Jae met her gaze. Blank. Cold. Unfazed.

Then she knelt, gathering the papers slowly, deliberately.

She wouldn’t give Claudette the satisfaction of a reaction.

She wouldn’t break.

And in the corner, Lucas watched—his lips curling into the faintest smirk.

"She’s tougher than they think."

While Jae fought her silent war, Kellin was in a very different kind of battle.

The underground training facility smelled like sweat and blood.

Kellin barely dodged a strike before countering with a sharp elbow. His opponent grunted but didn’t slow down.

"Again," the trainer barked.

Kellin barely had time to brace before a fist slammed into his ribs. He gasped but didn’t go down.

He remembered the way Jonah had trapped Jae. The way she had cried in the dark. The way she had almost died.

"I won’t let it happen again."

By the time he collapsed onto the mat, his vision swam with exhaustion.

Lucas stepped forward from the shadows. "You’re improving." His voice was measured, unreadable.

Kellin wiped blood from his lip. "Not fast enough."

Lucas tilted his head. "Skill isn’t enough. When the time comes, will you be willing to kill for her?"

Kellin didn’t hesitate. "I already am."

As the city lights glowed outside, Jae finally left Devereaux Haute Couture.

Her body ached, her mind spun, but she had survived.

She didn’t know Lucas had been watching.

She didn’t know Vivienne had already received the first report.

And she didn’t know that miles away, Jonah was still looking for her

Jae barely had time to catch her breath before Kellin pulled up outside Devereaux Haute Couture in a sleek black car. The moment she slid into the passenger seat, she let out a long exhale, finally allowing herself to feel the exhaustion weighing on her.

Kellin smirked, one hand on the wheel, the other casually draped across the console. “Rough first day?”

She shot him a glare, but it lacked real heat. “You have no idea.”

“Oh, I have some idea.” He pulled away from the curb, navigating through the Parisian streets glowing under the city lights. “Vivienne had Lucas watching you all day.”

Jae’s eyes widened. “What?”

Kellin chuckled. “Don’t worry, he was under orders not to help. She wanted to see how you handled yourself.”

Jae groaned, leaning her head back against the seat. “Great. So she got a front-row seat to my humiliation.”

Kellin glanced at her, his expression softening. “She got a front-row seat to how strong you are.”

Something in his voice made her stomach flutter, but she pushed it aside.

“Where are we going?” she asked instead, realizing they weren’t heading back to the estate.

“Dinner,” he said simply.

“Kellin, I—”

“No arguments.” His voice was firm but teasing. “You had a hell of a day. You need to eat, and I happen to know the perfect place.”

They ended up at a hidden little restaurant tucked away down a quiet street, far from the tourists and the flashing lights of the city. The kind of place where the scent of freshly baked bread filled the air, where the tables were close together but felt intimate rather than cramped.

Kellin pulled out her chair before sitting across from her, his emerald eyes flickering in the candlelight.

They ordered wine, some small plates to share, and for the first time all day, Jae let herself breathe.

“I still can’t believe I survived,” she admitted, swirling the deep red liquid in her glass. “I thought they’d eat me alive.”

Kellin smirked. “They tried. But you didn’t break.”

Jae met his gaze, something unspoken passing between them.

Kellin set his glass down, his fingers tracing the rim. “You know, Jae… I’ve watched you fight through everything they’ve thrown at you. Your family, Jonah, this new life… and you just keep standing. It’s incredible.”

Jae swallowed, caught off guard by the raw emotion in his voice. “Kellin…”

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. His playful smirk was gone, replaced by something deeper.

“I’ve been in love with you for years.” His voice was low, steady. “I don’t know when it started—maybe when we were kids, maybe the moment I saw you locked in that damn room, or maybe it was every single time you got back up when life knocked you down.”

Jae’s breath hitched.

He shook his head, letting out a soft, almost disbelieving laugh. “I told myself it wasn’t the right time, that you had too much to deal with, that I wasn’t what you needed. But I’m done pretending. I love you, Jae. And I don’t care how long it takes—I’ll wait for you to be ready.”

Jae’s heart pounded.

She wanted to say something, to give him the answer he deserved, but her whole world had shifted in a matter of seconds.

Instead, she reached across the table, lacing her fingers with his.

Kellin squeezed her hand, understanding passing between them without the need for words.

For the first time in a long, long time…

Jae didn’t feel so alone.