Original Kael stood there like a nightmare on the blue marble floor, just three tiles away from where I was drowning in embarrassment inside the pool.
Well, "embarrassment" wasn't even the correct word to use.
I was HELLA SHOCKED TO SEE THIS GUEST.
KAEL was the last person I was expecting on this planet to land in France today.
I gulped hard while staring into his piercing brown eyes, irritation burning through them as he looked at me like I had personally shortened his lifespan by ten years. As if I exclusively belonged to him. As if I was supposed to tell him about Thea's wedding and bring him here instead of handing his identity over to some random idiot from London.
Someone remind him we BROKE UP!!!? He DUMPED ME…
So why the hell was he looking at me like that?
With those piercing brown dagger-eyes?
My thoughts completely short-circuited the moment my eyes dropped lower, to his outfit—
Oh, good Lord, no…
He stood there in an almost see-through white half-sleeved shirt, the fabric clinging lightly to his abs and broad shoulders from the humid summer air. The blue lights around the pool reflected faintly against his skin, casting soft ripples of silver across the sharp lines of his arms. His damp dark hair rested carelessly over his forehead, a few strands falling into his eyes, while that cold arrogance dripped from his face like sweat.
And somehow, standing there under the glow of the pool lights, he looked even more infuriatingly handsome than I remembered.
The realization struck me at lightning speed.
Every woman in that pool was staring at him, literally drooling over him!? Like they hadn't seen better-looking guys before?
Honestly, I wanted to gather them all together and warn them personally what a pain in the ass this man actually was.. Arrogant, jerk, manner less, rude, emotionally constipated, and almost any negative adjectives we could use to describe his character. And somehow, I guess still annoyingly attractive to forget.
WAIT- WHY DO I EVEN CARE!!!!????
While my life was actively collapsing in front of seventy people, I still couldn't pull my gaze away from him, or stop mentally listing adjectives to describe him.
Too dumb of me.
Kael stood there with that stupidly strong stance of his, frustration and irritation boiling quietly inside those deep brown eyes. His gaze stayed locked on me.
Fucking pinned.
As if I was the CENTRE OF THIS DISASTER!
"Daisy!" Mother's wrath pulled me out of the brown swamp instantly and threw me right back into the horrifying reality where TWO KAELS were standing in the same room. I wish this was just the nightmare I was living in.... But it's way too real to be one. "WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!?" Mother yelled furiously, looking at me like I had once again brought disgrace upon the family in front of half of France.
Meanwhile, Aunt Isa stood beside her with clenched fists and a tight jaw, looking like she was personally reconsidering my invitation to this wedding.
I gulped hard.
While the date I brought was busy drinking like an animal, not even bothering to look in my direction once.
What the heck is happening!?
I froze right there in the warm pool. How am I supposed to sort this mess out?
Wasn't he supposed to attend his "family call"? What the hell is he doing here!?
My mother took a long breath. Too long to go unnoticed, "Daisy. He says he is Kael."
BECAUSE HE IS KAEL, MOTHER.
I wanted to say it.
But how could I?
How could I tell her this was the Kael I used to talk about years ago? That we're long gone. That we're just history and photos still saved inside my password-protected files, with his birth date as the password like some pathetic secret.
Whatever we shared felt like a regret to him.
Guess I was a burden to someone new as well. Someone outside the family.
So I had to arrange a substitute Kael...Who's apparently not even Kael!!!
"Then who the hell was that Kael you brought over?" Mother asked, looking genuinely confused. Like I'd picked up some lost kitten from the side of the road and brought it home despite her being completely against it.
Maybe Jake was right, French women when angry, they can make the sourdough Outta you.
But my eyes drifted back to him.
Big mistake.
His gaze pinned me across the room instantly, as if it had been on me the entire time.
Then suddenly, a sharp smile spread across his face.
A smile that didn't reach his eyes.
Bitterness lingered there instead.
Won't lie it confused the fuck outta me!
"But you said that..." Mother's eyes narrowed, confusing just bubbling in those French earthy eyes. "That guy was Kael. If he was your boyfriend, and he claims to be your boyfriend, then who is your real boyfriend? Or are you dating two guys with the same name at the same time!?"
Her nostrils flared up like an angry dinosaur while her eyes grew three times larger than their normal size.
I am cooked.
FR.
OH WAIT WHAT- DID I HEARD THIS RIGHT? HE....
Did he just introduce himself as my BOYFRIEND!!!????
What on earth was he thinking?
And why couldn't he tell me, for once, what was going on inside that brain of his!!!!!!!
I fake-coughed to buy myself some time...
And to understand what the hell was cooking inside his head.
Was he trying to take revenge for all those times I tortured him at the office by assigning him editing work from my teenage author, who literally made a mistake every few words!?
"Start speaking, Daisy!!" My mother looked like she was seconds away from cooking me alive. And that too, in the worst possible way.
Make up a story.
MAKE UP A STORY.
MaKe uP a StoRy yOu BiTCh!
"I called him," I finally blurted out with awkward confidence, standing in a pool whose water had suddenly started feeling like freezing Antarctic ice.
Or maybe it was the fear making my body tremble.
"You called him, Daisy?" My mother suddenly sounded sarcastic "I called him, young lady."
"YOU CALLED HIM!?"
And that's what came out of my mouth.
Out of every concerning question I was supposed to answer, THAT was the one thing I decided to focus on.
My brows practically shot to the moon as the confusion thickened in the air. Meanwhile, my attention got completely hijacked by the arrogant-ass Kael, who stood there with his arms crossed like a police officer questioning a criminal, while somehow looking annoyingly handsome at the same time.
Those abs were doing absolutely nothing good for me.
"Yes. He told us he was still on the way!" Aunt Isa continued, sounding like the king's right-hand woman. She looked just as furious as my mum. "But you had already brought Kael! And now he comes in and introduces himself as Kael, and your boyfriend too. What's happening?"
Yeah, I heard it the first time.
You don't have to announce it to the entire population of France, Aunt Isa!!!!
I looked at the real Kael with only one question.
"Why did you even fly all the way from the UK to France!?"
WHYYYYYYY
My mother was looking super mad. Like fucking mad. And that meant DESTRUCTION FOR ME.
One wrong answer and boom.
"Mhm, Princess. Your mother called me to attend Thea's wedding."
The original Kael replied to the question I had practically been begging him to answer through my eyes.
But that answer—
It just gave birth to thousands of new questions.
For instance— Where did they even get his fucking number from!?
And why couldn't he simply say he was busy and avoid coming here altogether???
But most importantly, if he really wanted to play the rescuer, why the fuck didn't he give me a heads-up???
I licked my lips, confusion and questions bubbling in my throat.
Meanwhile, he looked at me as if I'd done drugs and should have never even thought of bringing another guy under his name.
His eyes narrowed, scanning every man standing around the pool, clearly trying to identify the fake Kael I had brought over.
"Darling, you came!"
Acting mode: ON.
My sentence snapped Kael out of his Who dared to act as her boyfriend? investigation.
"I didn't tell you because you were busy working!" I sighed dramatically. "Oh gosh, I just didn't tell you about it. I wasn't trying to bother you at all!" I was straight-up lying with the softest face imaginable.
My eyes practically screamed at Kael to play along.
"Oh, Mom. I didn't tell him to come." I let out an awkward laugh.
"I can see that. What's going on?" she asked pointedly, looking completely uninterested in my story and still very angry.
"Now it's getting interesting." Thea finally decided to open her gutter mouth. "This one is fucking hot and sexy. I bet he's too good in bed."
I hate her.
When is she getting married!?
I can't bear her presence in this house for another second.
She is one of the reasons I left home.
Bitchhhhh!
And now she's making comments about my ex-boyfriend.
Thank God we didn't meet her years ago.
"We know. Now who was that guy then, Daisy?" Aunt Isa spoke up, her words sharp as a sword.
I gulped.
One wrong story and I was done for.
Beads of sweat rolled from head to toe, mixing with the warm pool water.
Everyone's eyes were on me.
And whatever reputation I had left was hanging by a thread.
"The guy I brought over is my best friend, Kael. And he is my—" I gestured toward the original Kael, who was standing there like a model casually witnessing the entire disaster unfold. Like a salesperson proudly presenting the most expensive item in her collection, I announced. "He is my boyfriend, Kael."
I smiled a little too brightly.
Then I pulled myself out of the water that still seemed determined to drag me back down and let me die in it.
"Oh, so you took Kael with you, Princess?"
Original Kael added his contribution to the story-writing competition that had suddenly become my life.
Helping me out, he grabbed my wrist and steadied me as I climbed out of the pool.
His eyes worked quickly, scanning me from head to toe.
The bikini clung to my skin while droplets of water slid down my arms and legs, disappearing beneath the fabric.
Then he bit his lower lip.
And fuckkkk.
I felt like I was on fire.
Okay, this is NOT the time.
Fuck me.
I swallowed hard, trying to ignore the sudden heat rising inside me despite all the tension in the air.
Without saying anything, he grabbed the bathrobe resting on a nearby garden chair and wrapped it around my shoulders.
As if that wasn't enough, he carefully pulled the robe closed and tied the knot.
Then he rubbed the tip of his nose.
I tried to look into his eyes, but he seemed entirely focused on fixing the robe around me.
What's up with this guy?
He seems completely out of my syllabus.
"Daisy, why didn't you tell me about your best friend Kael? I thought you two were a couple." Mom finally spoke, sounding much calmer now.
Apparently she believed every bit of nonsense I had just made up.
Not because of me.
But because Kael had tied a knot on my bathrobe.
Even after all these years, I guess my worth around this place is still nothing.
My words aren't heavy enough for them to believe.
But there was a smile on her face as she watched Kael fuss over my robe and take care of me like I was made of glass.
"You got angry over his French. Then you didn't even allow me to explain. You just heard his name and rushed to the kitchen. And now you've finally come back to me, and instead of talking, you're bursting at me."
I shrugged. What a liar I am. But this is how life is, especially in France around my parents. That's how I usually my self respect and I have been surving around them all these years-
BAMMMMMMMMM.
My whole body flinched.
I whipped my head to the side, where Jake had somehow managed to destroy the chocolate fountain and spill the entire thing bomb drink, it had d gone off.
The red tablecloth was tangled in his hand.
"Wh-why can't I drink it?" Jake slurred drunkenly before collapsing onto the grass with a loud thump.
"I don't like your best friend already." Mom delivered her judgment on Fake Kael and walked away with Aunt Isa, both looking thoroughly disappointed.
Before I could clear the air with Kael, I found myself rushing toward Jake.
He was lying half-naked on the grass, clutching the tablecloth like it was the last sip of alcohol left in that red plastic cup.
Is this man serious!?
For real!?
I started shaking him.
Nothing.
He just wobbled around like a drunk seal and refused to open his eyes.
With no other options left, I started slapping his face.
Hard.
Years of drink nights with Jake had taught me the fastest and most effective way to wake him up.
And out of all days, TODAY was the day he chose to get blackout drunk.
"I would've told you to stop slapping him," Kael spoke up in his usual arrogant tone, "but he deserves it."
I paused. He looks unbothered yet too dramatic to be true.
"Give him five slaps from my side as well for—"
"Ouch," Alain interrupted Kael, "Is he okay?"
"He will. Once he gets five slaps from my side." Kael spoke with his arms crossed around his chest while he stood there around the corner like I hired the unnecessary model around.
I decided to ignore him. And just as I was about to slap Jake-
His eyes flew open.
They were bloodshot. Like he had done drugs.
"Dazeeeeee... I am eating cloudddddd... Oh wait. Why do I see boss here?"
"You are the boss, dummy. Now get up." I said.
I wrapped his arm around my shoulder and helped him stand. Alain grabbed his other side.
"Fuck, he is so heavy," Alain complained, looking at me.
He really was.
Like a hundred sacks of wheat heavy.
Before we could even start walking, Kael grabbed my hand.
A chill ran down my spine at his firm grip as warmth spread through my fingers.
"Step aside."
Before I could respond, he pulled me away from Jake.
That same arrogant, bossy expression sat on his face. Those dark eyes held no trace of emotion— Until something flickered there.
Just for a second.
The moment his gaze met mine, something flashed beneath the surface. It screamed something at me.
And then he buried it. He has always been a professional in killing his emotions and burying them dead deep.
Just like that.
Kael swung Jake's arm around his own shoulders and started walking him out.
Suddenly, Jake burst into laughter.
Out of nowhere.
Which, to be fair, was normal.
He drank like a pig and laughed like a monkey afterward.
Nothing new.
I sighed.
What a pain in the ass. I pinched the bride of my nose, while following the guys behind.
Jake kept giggling like the idiot he was before suddenly screaming into their ears,
"I wanna puuuukkkkkkeeeeeee!"
Kael immediately dropped Jake's arm and jumped three steps away. And suddenly he was standing right next to me
Alain did the exact same, but he jumped to the opposite side of mine.
Would this asshole react like that if I were the one about to throw up?
This shouldn't be my concern right now, since we have no relation, and there's nothing between us, particularly why he shouldn't even care. But it still kinda started bothering me.
Jake's nonstop giggling pulled me out of the unnecessary thought.
"I was lying."
He grinned proudly.
At that moment, he looked exactly like Olaf from Frozen.
Completely happy in his own little world.
A hollow laugh escaped me. "Seriously. Start walking to your room!"
I sounded like an Asian mother.
Jake had a unique talent for bringing that side out of me.
He suddenly started spinning in circles.
Okay.
Now that was new.
"Stars are coming doooowwwnnnnn! Woooohooooo!!!!!"
Really? What's up with him?
I was going to beat his ass the second we got back—
THE FUCK!?
One of Thea's minions let out a blood-curdling scream.
People immediately started scrambling away from the pool.
Jake had just projectile-vomited directly onto her head.
Her black hair was coated in it.
YUCK.
My stomach instantly turned.
Because.
EW.
Without a single thought, Jake launched himself into the pool like a dead body.
Right after puking on her.
And in the pool.
I was genuinely seconds away from throwing up too.
What the actual fuck.
That was disgusting.
"The hell is he doing?"
"Who even brought him here?"
"Bloody idiot!"
Voices erupted from every direction as people rushed away from the now-contaminated pool.
The entire mood was ruined.
Just like the water.
God.
I was so embarrassed.
And honestly?
I felt a little sorry for her.
She had done plenty of dirty things to me right in this pool, but nobody deserved... whatever this was.
The poor girl was standing there frozen in horror.
Covered in Jake's digestive decisions.
Oh my God.
Ew.
Guests continued leaving, muttering complaints about Jake and, unfortunately, about Thea's bachelorette party too.
The party she had spent months obsessing over.
The party she had probably imagined a thousand times.
Thea was used to perfection.
Used to praise.
Used to people telling her how amazing everything she touched was.
And now, for the first time, people were calling her party a disaster.
A complete bummer.
That made something sink inside my chest.
Because no matter how much I disliked her...
I never wanted this.
"Help! I'm dyyyyiiinnngggg!"
Jake's dramatic scream cut through the chaos.
I looked up.
He was flailing around in the pool.
Pretending to drown.
Or maybe actually drowning.
With Jake, it was genuinely hard to tell.
Great.
Just great.
I started walking toward the edge of the pool.
Kael followed immediately behind me, like my shadow.
As if he had silently decided he wasn't letting me out of his sight for even a second. But allowing me to do whatever the fuck I want to. Not doing anything. But not leaving my side either.
Where was the floater?
My gaze swept across the garden.
There.
An orange one sat abandoned beside the white fence.
I took a step toward it.
"The fuck do you think you're doing?" Thea's voice immidieatly stopped me.
I turned around.
Her chest rose and fell heavily. Her nostrils flared with anger. She took that from my mum.
"Can't you control your fucking friend?" she snapped. "You and your drama ruined my whole party."
The words hit harder than they should have.
"Your dramas always ruin everything, Daisy."
Ouch.
"How dumb can you be? If you wanted to ruin my night, you could've just told me. Why all this bullshit?"
Every word stung like poison.
I felt sick.
Maybe I should've never come here.
I was indeed too dumb to think, they were inviting me over to get involved in their happiness. It wasnt the case, looks like she saw me as a competition and decided to insult me, while calling me to her wedding shenanigans.
However I took a deep breath. "I didn't want to ruin your party." My voice came out quieter than I intended.
Because I really didn't.
I had been happy for her.
Despite everything.
But what hurt the most wasn't her anger.
It was the bitterness.
The venom in her voice.
Did she really think I was jealous of her?
"Oh, for fuck's sake, Daisy." Thea rolled her eyes. "Now don't start crying and acting like a victim."
What?
For a second, I genuinely thought I'd misheard her.
She was my sister.
My own sister.
How could she say that?
"Thea, are you even listening to yourself?" I snapped back. "Why the hell would I plan any of this?"
My hands clenched into fists.
"And what exactly am I supposed to be jealous of?"
The hurt quickly turned into anger.
"A marriage?"
I laughed bitterly.
"You don't even know how long that'll last."
The second the words left my mouth, I knew I'd crossed a line.
Thea went completely still.
Then she smiled.
And somehow that was worse.
"Wow."
Her voice dropped.
Cold.
Sharp.
Cruel.
"Just because no man has ever loved you enough to stay doesn't mean everyone else has the same problem, dear sister."
What the fuck.
The world seemed to freeze around me.
Even the shouting near the pool faded into the background.
Because somehow...
Out of everything that had happened tonight—
That hurt the most.
That broke something inside me. I won't lie. I had only ever loved one person. And it was fucking Kael.
And he too dumped me five years ago.
Since then, I had never truly looked at anyone else. Not because there weren't good men. Not because nobody was interested. I simply didn't want anyone. I read romance book whose male charector would be super similar to Kael's charector. I may have been to loyal to our past, to us. But that's just how I am.
But hearing my own sister throw it in my face? Saying it out loud, in an insulting way, that made me question myself and years I spent by....
That hurt differently.
"Cat got your tongue, Daze?" Thea mocked.
I said nothing. My throat felt too tight, to say anything.
"You always cry and run away. You couldn't secure a good university, you couldn't secure a good career, you couldn't even get yourself a ring." She started laughing bitterly.
But her words- it started burning tears in my eyes.
"Just like you're crying now."
I looked away. Trying to wipe of the flood that was coming out from my eyes.
"Go on. Run away again." Thea laughed. "Maybe this time to Russia."
The garden suddenly felt too small.
Too loud.
Too crowded.
And then Kael moved.
The moment he noticed the tears gathering in my eyes, he stepped in front of me.
Completely blocking her from my view.
His shoulders were broad enough that I couldn't even see her face anymore.
Thea scoffed.
"Excuse me?"
Kael ignored her.
His attention stayed on me.
Not her.
Me.
"Daisy."
His voice was low.
Steady.
"Look at me."
I hated that my eyes immediately obeyed.
His gaze searched my face.
Taking in every crack I was trying desperately to hide.
Then his jaw tightened.
Just slightly.
Enough for me to notice.
Thea folded her arms.
"Oh please. You are too handsome to stuck in her dumb games, she always do that, and then runs away, I have known her since birth."
Silence.
A dangerous kind of silence.
The kind that comes before a storm.
Kael slowly turned his head toward her.
"That's enough."
Thea laughed.
"Sorry what?"
His expression didn't change.
Not even a little.
"You don't get to speak to her like that."
Thea rolled her eyes.
"Or?"
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
Even the guests nearby seemed to fall silent suddenly.
Kael just as his name, he was a walking storm, it's cool if you stay away or you'd get consumed in it, and there'd be no trace of you ever left.
Kael looked at her for a long moment.
Then he said quietly,
"Or you'll regret it."
Thea blinked.
"Are you threatening me?"
"No."
His voice remained calm.
Cold.
Controlled.
"I'm telling you to stop. If this is how you treat family, I feel sorry for your husband."
For the first time all evening, Thea's expression faltered.
Just for a second Kael looked at her once. And then away.
Like she wasn't important enough to hold his attention.
Kael announced in his strong voice, enough to grow goosebumps on your hands. "We're leaving."
"Excuse me?" she snapped.
His eyes never left mine.
"I wasn't talking to you."
God.
Why did that feel so satisfying?
Thea stood there speechless.
Actually speechless.
A miracle.
My fingers found Kael's wrist.
I wrapped my hand around it.
Wanting to leave.
Needing to leave.
His gaze dropped briefly to my hand.
Then back to my face.
Something softened.
Just for a second.
Only a second.
And that was enough.
Enough for her.
Enough for tonight.
I tightened my grip around his bare wrist.
Just slightly. A silent plea.
Let's go. Please.
Kael let out a slow breath.
He understood.
Of course he did.
Without saying a word, he slipped one arm beneath my knees and the other behind my back.
The ground disappeared.
"What are you doing?" I whispered. My eyes was too wet to see the surrounding clearly, unfortunately my tears couldn't fucking stop streaming like waterfall. And I hate that he has to see me like this!
"Leaving."
That was all he said.
As if carrying me away from a disaster was the most normal thing in the world.
Behind us, Alain finally managed to drag Jake out of the pool. Or at least attempted to.
"Her hair turned yellowwwww!" Jake yelled between fits of laughter. "Hellooooo yellow haiiirrrr!"
He laughed so hard he nearly fell over again.
Even Alain started laughing.
The idiot.
Honestly, we had created a mess.
A terrible one.
Chocolate covered the ground.
The pool was officially ruined.
Guests had fled.
Thea's perfect bachelorette party had turned into a complete disaster.
And somehow Jake was still finding new ways to make it worse.
I buried my face against Kael's shoulder.
Partly from embarrassment.
Partly because I didn't want to look at anyone, and especially i didn't want him to see me like this. This vulnerable. This was the first time he met my family, and.... Ughhh
As we passed Thea, Kael finally glanced at her.
Just once.
No anger.
No shouting.
No threat.
Nothing.
His gaze was almost worse.
Disappointment.
Cold.
Final.
Then he looked away.
As though she no longer mattered.
As though the conversation had ended the moment she chose to hurt me.
And somehow that felt far crueler than any insult.
He carried me straight past her.
Leaving her alone in the wreckage.
The fairy lights.
The ruined pool.
The abandoned decorations.
The party she had dreamed about for months.
All of it left behind.
I glanced over his shoulder one last time.
Thea still hadn't moved.
She just stood there.
Watching.
Watching the man who once belonged to her sister walk away carrying that same sister in his arms.
"C'mon, princess," Kael murmured.
For the first time that night, his voice softened. It has been ages since I heard his this voice.
"Where's your room?"