Aeris
Silence bloomed like a bruise.
Kade didn't look away. His words hung in the air, heavier than anything I'd expected. "Killed him."
He wasn't bluffing.
And somehow, that made my skin crawl and settle at the same time.
"You talk like you were given orders," I said slowly. "Like this was all some… operation."
Ronan exhaled, quiet but sharp. "It kind of was."
Silas shot him a warning look, but it was too late. The damage was done.
I straightened a little, ignoring the twinge in my side. "Okay. No more half-truths. No more cryptic crap. Start talking. What do you mean, 'operation'?"
Ronan looked at me for a long time. So long, I thought he wasn't going to answer.
Then, finally—"Your father wasn't just some guy with a nice house and a fancy car, Aeris. He wasn't just a businessman. He was involved in something deeper. Something dangerous."
My heartbeat kicked up. "What kind of dangerous?"
Silas sighed, walking toward the end of the bed. "Not drugs. Not the mob. Not that kind of dangerous. Your dad was ex-military. Intelligence division. Clean exit, honorable, everything above board. But after he left, he started helping… people. Quietly. People who needed protection from things no one else would touch."
"People like you," Kade added, nodding toward me.
I blinked. "What does that have to do with you three?"
Silas leaned against the dresser, arms crossed. "We were the people he saved."
"When we were kids," Ronan said, his voice lower. "All of us. Different situations. Same result. Your father pulled us out of something dark. He gave us a second chance."
I couldn't breathe.
Couldn't move.
None of this made sense—and yet, it made too much.
"He told someone," Kade said. "If anything ever happened to him… someone had to watch over you."
"And that someone," I said carefully, "decided to send you three."
They nodded.
Slow. Reluctant. Like the truth still tasted bitter in their mouths.
I let out a dry laugh. "So let me get this straight. You were assigned to protect me. But instead of telling me anything, you made sure I hated you every single day of my life."
"It was safer that way," Silas said. "The less you trusted people, the less likely you'd open yourself up to the wrong ones."
"God." I shook my head, biting back the sudden burn behind my eyes. "Do you even hear how twisted that sounds?"
Ronan's eyes met mine. "Yes. And we'll live with that."
I looked at each of them, and for the first time, I didn't see the boys who shoved my books off desks or whispered cruel names in the hallway.
I saw regret.
And something else.
Guilt so heavy it had molded itself into them.
It didn't erase what they did.
But it made it harder to hate them.
And I hated that.
I sank back into the pillows, my voice soft and cracking at the edges. "I don't forgive you."
Kade nodded. "We don't expect you to."
"But I want the truth. All of it."
Ronan's jaw tightened. "Then we'll give it to you. Piece by piece. If you're ready."
I closed my eyes.
Not because I was tired.
But because for the first time in four years, the world felt like it had started shifting beneath my feet—and I didn't know if I wanted to stand still or let it swallow me whole.