Chapter 44

• "Why are you doing this, Kemi?" The words slipped from my lips like a confession, as if saying them aloud would somehow ease the pressure that was building in my chest. But it didn’t. It only made it worse. She stood across from me, as composed as ever, her eyes colder than the marble floor beneath my feet.
• “You should’ve known better, Cole,” she said, her tone steady but with an undercurrent of something darker. “You were always too trusting. Too naive.”
• I could feel the weight of her words pressing on me, the knowledge that everything I had believed about my family, about loyalty and trust, was now a lie. My thoughts were a whirlwind, and every time I tried to grasp at the truth, it slipped through my fingers.