Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Meeting the Foster Brother Again

Lila’s POV

“He… he never told me any of this,” I murmured, my fingers unconsciously tightening on the hem of my clothes.

An indescribable warmth washed over me, and my eyes instantly welled with tears. He had cleared the path for me using his seemingly harsh and forceful methods, all while keeping his gentler side hidden in the shadows.

Seeing my stunned expression, David sighed. “Maybe this is just his way of loving you.”

“He loves… me?” I was completely floored by the possibility.

The silence lingered for a moment until David opened the project file for the Goodrich Group, shattering the tender quiet.

“Okay, enough about that.” His expression turned serious and professional once more. “The Goodrich Group’s high-end residential project does have some outstanding structural issues we need to follow up on. And we’ll probably need to get to the site for a survey as soon as possible.”

’Go to the site?’

David sensed my hesitation and softened his tone. “I know this is difficult for you. The Goodrich Group did some terrible things to you in the past. But, Lila, this is business. And we have to go in person to get the most accurate data and prevent the kind of mistake that happened last time.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

An image of the Goodrich family’s opulent but fake villa surfaced in my mind. I thought of Uncle Arthur’s sanctimonious face, of Caleb’s decisive breakup with me, and his strange attempts to entangle me in his life again. It was as if I was breathing in clouds of putrid lies.

But now, for the sake of my job and to prove my professional competence, I had to face them again. Besides, maybe I could get some information about Derek from the Goodrich family, in addition to whatever I could learn from Lilith.

“Fine,” I said, opening my eyes, my gaze firm. “I’ll go. When are we leaving?”

David then drove me to the project site. The car left the city, winding its way up the mountain road as the view outside transitioned from urban chaos to the tranquility of the forest. In the distance, the gray-white skeletons of several buildings rose from the hillside, surrounded by a forest of tower cranes and the constant to-and-fro of concrete mixers.

Safety signs were lined up neatly at the site entrance. We put on our hard hats, and just as we stepped into the construction zone, a familiar figure came striding toward us from the direction of the temporary site offices.

It was Caleb.

He was wearing an impeccably tailored, dark gray trench coat, looking utterly out of place amidst the rugged construction site. The moment he saw me, he faltered. A flicker of something crossed his eyes before he quickly glanced around, and after confirming there were no security cameras or workers nearby, he reached for my wrist. “Lila,” he said in a low voice, “come over here. I have something to tell you.”

I immediately took a step back, avoiding his touch. My voice was calm but firm. “Caleb, this is a work site. I’m here to survey the data. If you have something to say, say it here.”

He frowned, lowering his voice even more. “This isn’t the place for this kind of conversation.”

I angled my body away slightly, my gaze sweeping over his weary face. “You said the same thing last time, when you were trying to blackmail me. And in the end? Your group immediately sent a formal warning, the project was frozen, and it was humiliating for everyone involved. Since you clearly don’t call the shots when it comes to work, there’s nothing we need to discuss in private.”

My tone wasn’t harsh, and I didn’t raise my voice, but every word was clear, laced with a calm finality that permitted no argument. Caleb’s hand froze in midair, his face paling slightly. After a few seconds of silence, he finally lowered his hand. “This isn’t about the project,” he said softly. “It’s about you.”

He looked at me, his eyes a mix of conflict, guilt, and long-suppressed anguish. “My father told me to keep an eye on you, to stop you from investigating further… but I can’t do it. I know what he did to you, and I know what you’ve been through all these years… I’m the one who failed you.”

His voice trembled. “I’m not here on business. I truly hope… you can just stay away from all this.”

“Caleb,” I began softly, my voice as cool and distant as mountain mist. “If you know the truth about how I was brought into the Goodrich home fifteen years ago, then tell me. Don’t just tell me to stay away and pretend nothing is wrong!”

“You know?” he asked, stunned. His voice was so faint it was nearly carried away by the wind. “I… I can’t say.”

I watched him in silence. I felt no hatred, no resentment—only a deep sense of exhaustion and release.

Caleb grew frantic and pulled me into his arms. “Can we… can we go back to how we were before? Even as just friends, I want you to be safe.”

’How we were before? The girl who believed he would always protect her had died long ago, killed over countless nights of being spied on, tested, and betrayed.’

I turned and looked toward the rising building, its reinforced concrete frame standing like a cold, stark skeleton.

“And as for being safe…” I said softly, “no one gets to be safe until the truth comes out.”

The wind swept down from the mountains, brushing a strand of hair across my cheek. I lifted my hand and tucked it behind my ear. My fingertips were cool to the touch, but my mind had never been clearer.

————

Night fell like ink, slowly soaking the mountainside in darkness.

Moon Hidden Villa stood silently on the mountainside, like a slumbering beast or an isolated island cut off from the world. As I stepped into the foyer, my lambskin flats tapped an arrhythmic beat on the marble floor, each sound seeming to question my own tumultuous heart.

A fine layer of dust from the construction site still clung to my fingertips, and I could almost smell the lingering scent of steel, concrete, and unfamiliar air. But stronger than all of that was the memory of the churning pain and pleading in Caleb’s eyes. It hadn’t been an act, or at least, not entirely. He was being torn apart, pulled between his family’s orders and the remnants of his old feelings for me, like a string stretched to its breaking point.

“Lila? You’re back!”

Her crisp voice was like a pebble tossed into water, shattering the gloom in my heart. Zoe came bounding down the spiral staircase like a happy fawn. She was wearing a daffodil-yellow silk dress that made her look absolutely radiant. In her hand, she swirled a freshly made cocktail, fine beads of condensation clinging to the glass.

“Guess what I did today?” she asked, leaning in close before I could answer. Her eyes were as bright as stars. “I ’ran into’ Lilith! It was at that boutique coffee shop you mentioned, the one that requires a reservation.”

She launched into a vivid description. “She was there by herself, holding a latte and trying to find the best angle for a photo. I walked over and complimented her, telling her that her pearl hair clip was a perfect match for her and gave her such a classy look. Oh, you should have seen her expression! Her eyes lit up, and she stammered her thanks.”

Zoe lifted her chin smugly, like the cat that got the cream. “Then I seized the moment and invited her to a small art salon I’m hosting next week. I told her I felt like she had the potential to be a good friend. She got so excited she almost spilled her coffee! Lila, don’t you think my acting skills are amazing?”

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