Beneath His Skin

Episode 12: The Burn

The days blurred into each other like smeared ink on a fragile page.

Kael and Serah stayed hidden in the modern cliffside fortress, but peace was only an illusion—one they clung to between phone calls, threats, and news articles that painted Serah as everything from a gold-digger to a scandalous mistress.

They didn't leave. They couldn't. Not without being swallowed by the storm.

But even isolation had cracks.

It started with a drone.

Serah spotted it first, just beyond the balcony.

“Kael!” she cried out.

He was already running.

The security system activated, the drone captured and crushed before it could disappear. But the damage was done.

They were found.

By evening, a legal document was hand-delivered to the front gate. Kael opened it under the silver light of the kitchen, every muscle in his body clenched.

A formal cease-and-desist.

From his own father.

A demand to return home. Alone.

Or risk being disowned.

Kael stared at the paper like it was a death certificate.

Serah’s voice broke through the silence. “What is it?”

He couldn’t lie. Not now.

“They’re giving me one last chance. To walk away from you. From this.”

She exhaled. “Will you?”

He tore the document in half.

Then again.

Then again—until it was nothing but confetti on the marble floor.

“That’s your answer,” he said.

They knew what was coming. The firestorm. The retaliation. His family didn’t lose—especially not to love.

So they prepared.

Kael wired funds to offshore accounts. Bought plane tickets under fake names. Talked to lawyers. Trusted no one.

But the hardest part wasn’t escaping.

It was waiting.

Three nights later, the front door exploded inward.

Kael dragged Serah behind him, shielding her as masked men stormed in—not criminals, but corporate mercenaries. Suits with silencers.

“Step away from the girl,” one ordered. “Or we’ll make you.”

Kael’s fists clenched.

“She’s carrying my child.”

“And you’re carrying our future,” the man said coldly. “One we won’t let you ruin.”

Shots fired—not bullets, but smoke pellets. Chaos. Screaming.

Kael grabbed Serah and ran. Through the emergency tunnel beneath the house. Into the forest beyond. Breathing like thunder. Heartbeats like war drums.

They made it to the secondary safehouse.

This one was smaller. Less guarded. Less known.

But they had each other.

Kael pressed a wet cloth to Serah’s forehead. Her breathing slowed.

“I’m okay,” she whispered.

“You’re not,” he said. “You shouldn’t be running. You’re pregnant. You should be safe.”

Her hand covered his. “Then make me safe.”

He held her. Kissed her hair. Swore to the stars that he would.

That night, Kael made another call.

Not to his father. Not to his enemies.

To the only person in his family he still trusted.

His younger sister, Lyra.

“I need your help,” he said.

[To be continued in Chapter 13]