CHAPTER 4 — The Truth That Burns Hotter Than Love

Cassian had been distant for days. Not cold—he never was with me. Just… quieter. Like every word cost him a little more than it did yesterday. I thought he was avoiding another outburst like the one at the gala. I was wrong. It started when I found the file. Not hidden. Just left open on his desk, as if he was too exhausted to cover his tracks anymore. A name stared back at me. Callum Vale. His younger brother. Three years dead. My heartbeat thudded in my ears as I flipped through the pages. Photos. Typed reports. Handwritten notes in Cassian’s sharp, slanted script. And then— a newspaper clipping with the headline: Young Executive Dies in Apparent Accident. But the details were all wrong. The car hadn’t crashed. The brakes had been cut. Callum hadn’t overdosed. Someone had injected him with a sedative. And the message he’d tried to leak— Corruption inside the Vale family empire. Embezzlement. Money laundering. Names no one should have touched. My breath seized. The person Callum had confided in before his death—the one who last saw him alive— Elena Vale. Cassian’s older sister. I didn’t hear him enter the room. Only felt a shift in the air behind me, like gravity tightening. “Lila.” His voice scraped low, raw. “That’s not for you.” I turned, file still in my shaking hands. “You’re investigating your brother.” A pause. The kind people take before admitting a truth that will cost them everything. “Yes.” “And your sister…” I swallowed. “She was involved?” His eyes closed as if the words physically hurt him. “Elena was the only person Callum trusted,” he said, barely audible. “And the last person who saw him breathing.” The room felt suddenly too small. Too dark. “Cassian… this wasn’t an accident.” “No.” He opened his eyes, and there was no light in them. Only grief carved into something sharper. “I’ve known that since the night he died.” A tremor rolled through my chest. “Then why hide this from me?” He stepped closer, slow, cautious, like he was afraid if he reached for me too fast, I’d vanish. “Because once you know the truth,” he murmured, voice breaking, “you don’t get to walk away. They won’t let you. And neither will I.” I didn’t know which part should terrify me more. He exhaled shakily, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “Lila… whatever killed Callum is still inside my family. Still watching.” His throat tightened. “And the more I dig, the more certain I am that I’m next.” The words hit me like a strike of lightning. All at once, his tenderness made sense— the softness, the apologies, the way he held himself around me like I was something fragile he didn’t dare bruise. It wasn’t possession. It was farewell. A man starving for warmth before the darkness finally swallowed him. “Cassian…” I whispered, stepping toward him. He didn’t step back. He never does with me. His fists curled at his sides, knuckles white. “Do you understand now why I didn’t tell you? Why I tried to keep you out?” My voice shook. “Because you didn’t want me dragged into this.” “No.” His jaw clenched. “Because I didn’t want you to grieve me.” The breath left my lungs. He moved then—closing the space between us until he was right in front of me, his forehead almost touching mine. “Lila.” His whisper was a confession and a collapse. “When I’m with you… I forget that I’m a dead man walking.” My fingers trembled. I didn’t touch him—but God, I wanted to. “Don’t say that,” I breathed. “It’s the truth.” His eyes flicked to my mouth, then away, like it hurt too much to linger. “I’m not gentle with you because I’m afraid of breaking you.” His voice dropped lower. “I’m gentle because I’m already breaking.” My chest cracked open. He let out a shaky breath, brushing past me to close the file—the finality of the gesture sharp as a blade. “Whatever happens next,” he said quietly, “I need you to stay away from my family.” I froze. “And from me.” The last word splintered. But when he finally looked at me again, I saw it— the terror, the desperation, the bone-deep grief. And beneath it all… a man who’d already decided to burn alone. Before I could speak, he walked away. Leaving me in the dark with a truth that tasted like smoke: Loving Cassian Vale wasn’t the dangerous part. Knowing his truth was.