Sweet Hatred-Chapter 224: So confusing

My stomach twisted. I didn’t like the feeling. At all.

Ash’s voice cut through my spiral again. "You didn’t have to come, by the way. I could’ve handled the security updates myself."

That snapped me out of it.

I turned toward her, voice clipped. "It’s my job, isn’t it?"

Her brows lifted ever so slightly, pleasantly surprised.

And I hated that part of me always wanted her approval. Why the hell do I care what Ashlyn thinks?

But she didn’t press. Instead, she smiled in that way of hers that always felt like she knew five more things than she let on, and gestured for us to walk side by side.

"Come on," she said smoothly. "They’ve set up the main security interface two levels down in the tech bay. Facial recognition’s been recalibrated since the incident. I need your eyes on the entry flow."

"Of course," I said, my voice more composed now.

But I didn’t miss her glance at my neck.

And I really didn’t miss the smugness bleeding from her smirk when she looked away.

I tried to ignore the echo of Kael’s kiss still humming along my jaw.

Tried to ignore the way Ashlyn walked like she didn’t give a damn that her fiancé had just been kissing another woman like she was everything he’d ever wanted.

God she was so confusing. And maybe I was too.

But something in her tone, something I couldn’t name yet, told me the game had only just begun.

....

Golden hour spilled like melted honey across the floor, the sun dipping low behind the sprawling palms and glass edges of the estate. The gala was moments from beginning, staff scattered like silk ants, adjusting floral arrangements, polishing champagne flutes, doing last checks on security tags, earpieces, surveillance drones. A quiet hum of prestige and danger.

Ash and I weren’t dressed yet. We were still doing a final sweep of the main event space, where the early-arrival VIPs had begun to trickle in for the welcome drinks and photo ops. Staff dressed in black and white moved like clockwork between marble bars, crystal arrangements, and perimeter checkpoints with face scanners disguised as art. Everything looked effortless.

Still I was too distracted.

Too aware.

Too tense.

The moment I saw the cluster of guards in black suits moving toward us like a storm tide, I knew. Even before I saw him.

Kael Roman walked like nothing in the world had the right to look him in the eyes. Like the land itself parted to make room for him. I almost forgot how that felt, to be in a room when he entered it. How the atmosphere bent around him like he was the gravity source.

And beside him, flanked with effortless grace and an expensive smile, stood none other than him, the Vice President.

Of the actual fucking country.

He stood sharp-featured, grey at the temples, wearing secrets and a limited-edition silk tie like it was all just another day in power.

Ashlyn stepped forward first, all grace and diplomacy. I followed slightly behind her, mentally preparing for a handshake, a smile, a hello, Mr. Second Most Powerful Man in the Nation, but I couldn’t even pretend to focus as they approached.

Ash straightened. Her mask of elegance snapping on with one flick of her shoulder.

"Mr. Vice President," she greeted coolly, offering her hand.

"Miss Stanley," he returned, kissing her knuckles like old money men did when they were about to destroy someone or write a million-dollar check. "You’re even more striking than your father described."

They exchanged pleasantries, about the Stanley conglomerate, the gala’s purpose, the advancements of the biotech project, and I stood silently beside her, my entire skin humming.

Because I could feel him.

Kael didn’t say a word. Not to me. Not to Ash. fгeewebnovёl.com

But his stare was setting my bones on fire. I barely registered Ash exchanging a poised, casual greeting with the VP anymore. All I could hear was the hammering in my chest. All I could feel was Kael, watching me like I’d wronged him. Like I’d teased him. Like I owed him.

I hadn’t even looked at him in the eye yet. I refused to. I thought maybe if I didn’t, it would dull the ache forming in my chest again.

But my body was traitorous.

And Kael Roman was... Kael Roman.

The man who had kissed me into oblivion hours ago now stood draped in the clean-cut black of his tailored suit, every line sharp enough to slice glass, every hair in place, his face carved from ice and wrath.

When I finally glanced up, God help me, our eyes met.

And I froze.

Because his gaze wasn’t just burning.

It was devouring.

Those green glacier eyes, tinged with something much darker, locked onto mine like he’d been waiting for me to crack. And the worst part? I almost did. Right there. In front of the Vice President of the entire goddamn country.

He wasn’t just pissed. He was lethal. Controlled rage, narrowed eyes that shimmered like polished steel under the low lights. That kind of rage that didn’t make noise, it waited. It calculated. It devoured

I swallowed.

His lips curved just barely. Like he knew what I was thinking. What I was feeling.

’I missed you so much.’

His voice echoed in my mind, tangled with memory and heat.

I jerked my gaze away just as Langston and Ash shook hands again.

"Well then," the VP said, "I’ll see you shortly. Looking forward to the reveal."

Ash smiled like a queen. "Likewise."

The group moved again, past us, their shadows falling over the marble like spilled ink. And even as Kael brushed by me, saying nothing, not even a whisper...

I knew.

He’d felt it too.

I couldn’t help it.

I turned.

And so did he.

Our eyes collided like a car crash in slow motion.

He was still walking. Slower than the others, staring back at me like I was the only thing in the room that existed. Like the entire gala could burn and he’d still find me in the ashes.

I looked away first.

Barely.

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