Three weeks had passed since Therese and Ikaris's wedding, and life had somehow settled into its usual rhythm. The ache for Khai, that deep longing that had gnawed at me, slowly faded with the passage of time. I'd tried to push it all aside, burying myself in work to distract myself from the emptiness I still felt. It was easier that way-keeping my mind busy with tasks and obligations.
But no matter how hard I tried, some things were impossible to ignore.
Still, I threw myself into the whirlwind of planning for my own future. Mel and I were now fully immersed in wedding preparations. Coordinating with Jolie, the wedding organizer, took up much of my time. Every decision, from the venue to the cake flavors, seemed important. It was supposed to be exciting, and on some level, it was, but a small part of me couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing.
I threw myself into choosing wedding gowns, attending cake tastings, and booking venues, all while trying to maintain the appearance of the perfect partner for Mel. But deep down, I knew my heart wasn't in it the way it should be. There was always this nagging feeling, a pull toward something else-or someone else. But for now, I had to push it away. Mel deserved all of my attention, all of my energy.
One night, while sifting through wedding plans, an idea sparked. I knew Mel had been busy, and I wanted to surprise her with something special-a gesture that might bring back that spark we'd once had. I decided I needed to shake things up a bit, do something spontaneous.
So, I booked a flight to Canada-without telling her. It wasn't extravagant, just a simple surprise, a reminder of the things we used to do when everything felt new. I thought, maybe this little gesture, something unexpected, would make a difference. I was determined to remind both of us that we were still us, even with the layers of responsibility and routine piling on.
In two days, I'd be standing in front of her again, and maybe-just maybe-the spark would return.
The next morning, as I prepared some paperwork, a message from Mr. Boyd popped up on my phone.
"Meeting with the founder and owner of F&V Firm at 10 AM. Be there."
I quickly gathered my things, smoothed out my blazer, and made my way to the boardroom. Thankfully, I wasn't late. The room buzzed with quiet anticipation, the air thick with the scent of freshly brewed coffee and polished wood.
A few minutes later, the door opened, and Mr. Boyd walked in, accompanied by a tall man who looked to be in his early fifties. He had striking white hair, deep hazel-brown eyes, and an air of quiet authority. At first, I assumed he was just another department head or senior executive-until Mr. Boyd spoke.
"Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Frederick Whitmore, the owner and co-founder of F&V Firm."
The moment his name was uttered, my entire body stiffened. My breath hitched. Frederick Whitmore. The name echoed in my head like a siren. My fingers clenched around the pen I was holding as I stared at the man before me.
White hair. Hazel-brown eyes. A smirk that sent a jolt of recognition through me.
Oh my God.
I barely heard the rest of the introductions. One by one, my colleagues shook his hand, exchanged pleasantries. But my mind was racing, trying to process the reality unfolding in front of me.
Then, it was my turn.
As soon as my name was called, his gaze landed on me, sharp yet familiar. Something flickered in his expression-a knowing look, a moment of recognition. And then, he smiled.
"Rain..." he said, his voice smooth and deliberate, as if tasting the weight of my name.
The way he said it, the resemblance to her was undeniable. That smirk-Khai had it, too. And those eyes... no wonder where she got them.
I swallowed hard, forcing myself to speak, but the words stuck in my throat.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Rain."
I barely nodded, my heart pounding wildly in my chest.
Oh my God.
I was standing face-to-face with the father of the woman I had once loved so madly, so deeply. And he knew exactly who I was.
After the introductions, the room buzzed with quiet chatter as Mr. Whitmore made his rounds, greeting each executive with a handshake or a few words. I watched him, but all I could think of was how much he resembled Khai. The same long lashes, deep hazel-brown eyes, that jawline-strong, defined. Even the flick of his wavy white hair was reminiscent of Khai's. The circular shape of his face, too. He looked like her, just older and, of course, a man.
As he approached me, my heart skipped a beat. His eyes locked onto mine, and for a moment, I froze.
"Rain, right?" he asked, his voice smooth, deep, and warm.
I nodded, still unable to find the right words.
"Khai mentioned you to me," he continued, his smile not quite reaching his eyes, but still warm. "You're probably in a state of shock right now."
I didn't respond, but his words hit me harder than I expected. Khai had talked about me?
Mr. Whitmore paused for a moment, studying me, then added, "I'm thankful you accepted the job offer years ago, Rain."
My mind raced. Why was he thanking me for that?
"That's the only way I could keep you safe, as Victoria and Khai asked me to."
Victoria... Khai's mom. My stomach twisted. Khai's mother knew about me? What did this mean? Why hadn't Khai told me any of this before?
Mr. Whitmore's gaze softened as if he sensed my confusion. "I'll be in Mr. Boyd's office around lunchtime. Come by. I'd like to know more about you."
I barely processed his words, still caught in the storm of questions swirling in my mind. What was Victoria's involvement in all of this? And why would Khai's father want to meet me now?
As he walked away, the realization hit me hard: this meeting was just the beginning of something I hadn't yet understood. And with it, a wave of both dread and curiosity swept over me.
After the meeting with Mr. Whitmore, I buried myself in work, trying to push aside the whirlwind of emotions that had surfaced. But as lunchtime approached, the weight of curiosity and unease settled in. I found myself standing outside Mr. Boyd's office, hesitating only for a moment before knocking.
The door opened, revealing Mr. Boyd with a welcoming smile. "Hey, Rain-come on in."
Stepping inside, I immediately spotted Mr. Whitmore sitting across the room. He looked up and gave me a nod of acknowledgment. "Hey, thank you for coming by," he said before turning to Mr. Boyd. "Can you give us the room, please?"
Mr. Boyd nodded without question and stepped out, leaving just the two of us. The silence was thick for a moment before Mr. Whitmore cleared his throat.
"How are you, Rain?" he asked, his deep brown eyes studying me. "How's Jackson?"
I swallowed the lump in my throat and forced a neutral expression. "It was... okay."
He leaned back slightly, his expression unreadable. "I heard you're engaged," he said, but there was something in his voice, something hesitant. Then he exhaled and gave me a small, knowing smile. "I remember Khai talking about you. And now, I understand why my daughter was so desperate to keep you safe."
I stiffened, but before I could respond, he motioned to the chair across from him. "Sit. There's something I need to tell you."
As I settled into the seat, my heart pounded. His next words sent a cold chill down my spine.
"Your father, Theodore Chadwick, was once a loyal right-hand man of Lucious Stanton."
I felt my breath hitch. My father? What did he have to do with the Stantons?
Mr. Whitmore's gaze darkened as he continued. "Theodore Antonio Chadwick was more than just an enforcer-he was the most feared man in the Stanton Empire. Cold, ruthless, calculating. He carried out Lucious Stanton's orders with unwavering precision, earning him the nickname The Loyal Dog."
I clenched my fists. The image of my father, the quiet yet loving man I remembered, didn't match the picture Mr. Whitmore was painting.
"But," he continued, his voice softer now, "there was one thing that mattered more to him than loyalty-his family. Your mother, Cecilia, was his anchor. She was his world, and you... Rain, you were his everything."
A lump formed in my throat. I thought back to my childhood-the gentle way my father used to ruffle my hair, the way he'd tuck me into bed with a kiss on the forehead.
"But fate isn't kind to men like Theodore," Mr. Whitmore said grimly. "He was ready to betray Lucious. He was about to give me the black book-a ledger containing everything, every illegal dealing, every crime the Stanton Corporation ever covered up. It would have exposed the truth: that the breach of protocol years ago wasn't just orchestrated by Lia and Letty. They were scapegoats. The real mastermind... was Lucious."
I felt my blood run cold.
Mr. Whitmore's jaw tightened as he continued. "Lucious was a master manipulator. He used my daughter against me, Rain. He put blood on Khai's hands just to cover up his sins." He let out a heavy breath. "He was the one who ordered Lucan to claim Khai as his own-to announce to the world that Victoria bore twins. It was all to cover up a scandal Lucan was tangled in."
I shook my head, trying to process it all.
"And worse," Mr. Whitmore's voice darkened, "Lucious ordered the hit on your family. He gave the command to Manuel to tamper with the brakes on your car the night of your high school graduation."
I felt my breath hitch.
"But fate had its own way of twisting things," he continued. "That same night, Lia Tanaka had her own plan-to take out the Stanton twins as revenge for her father's death. What was meant to be a calculated assassination turned into chaos. A head-on collision, a mess of destruction... and you, Rain, were caught in the middle of it all."
My vision blurred with unshed tears, my body trembling with anger, grief, and shock.
"It was never an accident," Mr. Whitmore said, his voice barely above a whisper. "It was all orchestrated."
Everything I thought I knew-about my past, my father, my trauma-was a lie. And at the center of it all was the man who had built an empire on blood and secrets.
Then Mr. Whitmore's expression softened, his voice laced with an emotion I couldn't quite place-was it regret? Pain? Or perhaps, something deeper?
"Theodore was a great man, Rain," he said, his gaze locking onto mine as if trying to make me understand. "I looked up to him. He wasn't just Lucious Stanton's right-hand man-he was a brother to me. He stood by me during some of the darkest times of my life, and if there was one thing I knew for certain about him, it was that his family meant everything to him. He loved you and your mother more than anything in this world."
I swallowed the lump in my throat as his words settled over me like a heavy weight.
"But love... love makes men vulnerable." He exhaled sharply, as if the memory itself was suffocating. "Theodore had spent years serving Lucious, carrying out his orders without question. But there was a line even he couldn't cross. The deeper he got into the Stanton family's dark dealings, the more he realized that there was no end to Lucious's thirst for power. And when he finally uncovered just how far Lucious was willing to go-how many innocent lives he had ruined, how many people had been sacrificed to keep the Stanton name clean-he decided he couldn't do it anymore. He wanted out. He wanted to take his family and disappear. To live a normal life."
A bitter smile ghosted over Mr. Whitmore's lips. "But you don't just walk away from Lucious Stanton. To him, Theodore wasn't a friend, wasn't a brother-he was an asset. A weapon. And a weapon that no longer serves its purpose is a liability."
He looked away for a moment, his jaw tightening. "Theodore confronted him. Told him he was done. That he wanted nothing to do with the Stantons, that he wanted a chance to be just a father, just a husband. And Lucious?" He let out a humorless laugh. "Lucious saw that as betrayal. And in his world, betrayal is punishable by death."
A cold shiver ran down my spine.
"I'm sorry about what happened to your family, Rain," Mr. Whitmore said, his voice quiet, filled with a sorrow that felt almost unbearable. "What Lucious did... it was horrifying. He made sure there was no escape for Theodore, no mercy."
I was still processing everything, still trying to grasp the weight of the truth, when he continued, his voice darkening.
"But it didn't end there." He exhaled. "Lucious needed a pawn. He needed leverage. And that's when he turned to Khai."
My breath caught in my throat.
"He gave her a choice," Mr. Whitmore said slowly, his eyes burning with something close to anger. "Kill me... or he would have you killed."
A sharp gasp escaped my lips, my pulse hammering against my ribs.
"He forced Khai to make the impossible decision," he continued, his tone heavy with something indescribable. "And Khai chose you."
Tears welled up in my eyes.
"But she didn't just choose you, Rain. She played Lucious's game. After she uncovered the truth about what he had done-how he orchestrated everything, including the hit on your family-she made the greatest sacrifice."
I shook my head, unable to believe what I was hearing.
"She made Lucious believe that she had killed me."
I felt my stomach twist.
"She let you go," Mr. Whitmore said, his voice softer now, almost gentle. "Because it was the only way to keep you safe. The only way to make sure Lucious never saw you as a threat. She sacrificed everything, even her own freedom, to protect you."
I could barely breathe. The weight of it all-the deception, the sacrifice, the love that had been hidden in the midst of so much pain-it was crushing.
"She let go of you, Rain," Mr. Whitmore repeated, "but it was never because she didn't love you. It was because she loved you more than anything."
As I struggled to process everything Mr. Whitmore had just told me, memories began to creep into my mind, unbidden and relentless. It was as if my subconscious had been waiting for this moment-for the missing pieces to finally click into place.
-Flashback-
It was the afternoon of my high school graduation, a day that was supposed to mark the beginning of a bright future. The sun hung lazily in the sky, casting a golden hue over the world as I stood in the backyard of our home, the scent of freshly cut grass lingering in the air. The celebration had ended, leaving only the closest members of our family sitting around, basking in the quiet joy of the day.
Dad sat beside me on the porch steps, his presence warm and reassuring. He had always been my protector, my anchor. No matter how much time he spent away on business, whenever he came home, he was Dad- just the man who would carry me on his shoulders, the one who would sing me to sleep on nights I was scared.
He nudged me gently. "Hey, Bug."
I turned to him, smiling at the nickname he had given me when I was little. "Bug? Dad, I'm practically an adult now. You really have to retire that name," I teased, nudging him back.
He smirked, shaking his head. "You'll always be my little bug, no matter how grown up you think you are."
I laughed, rolling my eyes. "Fine. What's up?"
His expression turned more serious, though there was still warmth in his eyes. "Do you remember what we used to play when you were just a tiny bug?"
I furrowed my brows for a moment before realization dawned on me. "Hide and seek?"
Dad nodded, his gaze never leaving mine. "Yeah. And do you remember the rules?"
I chuckled. "Of course. You always told me that hiding was about patience, and seeking was about knowing where to look. You said the best place to hide something important is in plain sight, where no one would ever think to look."
A flicker of something-pride, maybe-passed over his face. "That's right. But this time, we're going to play a different version of the game."
I tilted my head, intrigued. "Different how?"
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, worn-out black notebook, no bigger than a dictionary. His fingers brushed over the leather cover as if the object held the weight of something far greater than its size.
"This time, I want you to give me something valuable-something that means the world to you. And in return, I'll give you something that you need to protect with your life."
I blinked, taken aback by the sudden shift in his tone. He was always affectionate, but there was something else in his eyes now-something heavy.
For a moment, I hesitated, but then I remembered. My bracelet.
It was a simple woven band, slightly frayed at the edges, but it wasn't just any bracelet. I had gotten it at a concert Dad had taken me to years ago. It was one of the few moments we spent together without anyone else-just him and me, lost in the music, laughing, singing along. That night, as we left the concert grounds, I had bought the bracelet, telling Dad that it was my way of holding onto the memory forever.
Without thinking twice, I slipped the bracelet off my wrist and held it out to him.
"This," I said softly. "This is the most valuable thing I have."
Dad smiled-genuinely, warmly-as he took it from me, running his fingers over the worn threads.
"Good choice," he murmured before handing me the small black notebook.
It felt heavier than it should have, and when I opened it, I saw something wedged inside. A flash drive.
I looked up at him, confused. "Dad, what is this?"
His face was unreadable now, his expression carefully composed.
"Something I should have given you a long time ago," he said quietly. "Something that will one day make sense. But for now, you have to keep it safe. No matter what happens, no matter where life takes you-don't lose it."
A strange feeling settled in my chest. I wanted to ask him more, wanted to demand why he was giving me this, why he looked at me like he was saying goodbye without actually saying it. But before I could, he reached over and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
"I love you, Rain," he said, his voice thick with something I couldn't quite place.
I frowned. "I love you too, Dad."
He smiled, but there was something sad in his eyes. Something I missed back then. Something I only now, years later, could recognize.
Because that was the last moment I had with him before the accident.
Before everything changed.
-End of Flashback-
I jolted back to the present, my heart pounding in my chest.
The notebook. The flash drive. My father's cryptic words.
Suddenly, it all made sense.
"We heard about your abduction, Rain... and the night Lucan died." His voice was steady but laced with something deeper-regret, maybe. "From that moment on, we started protecting you from a distance."
I hesitated before glancing down at the screen. My breath hitched as I swiped through the images.
The first was of me standing outside Stanton Corporation, completely unaware that someone had been watching. The next was of me with Khai-our expressions unreadable, as if caught mid-conversation. Then another: me outside Therese and Kroft's apartment. More images followed, each one capturing a different moment over the past years, some in places I didn't even realize I had been watched.
And the last one...
It was me arriving here. In Chicago.
I looked up, my stomach twisting. "You... you were tracking me?"
Frederick met my gaze, unflinching. "This was my way of doing my part as a father to Khai-without her knowing that I was silently protecting you."
His words sent a shiver down my spine.
"Two years ago, when Khai spared me from death, she only asked one thing in return," he continued, his voice lowering. "She told me to acquire this company."
I frowned. "Why?"
Frederick's expression softened slightly.
"Because, Rain... she knew you were working here."
Frederick leaned back slightly, his gaze unwavering. "That moment, I realized how valuable you are in Khai's life." He exhaled deeply, as if carrying the weight of years of unspoken truths. "And I am willing to keep that promise-to protect both of you while I am breathing. That's the only way I could make up for Khai."
His words settled heavily between us. My chest tightened, emotions swirling like a storm I wasn't prepared for.
Khai...
Even when she had let me go-even when she made it seem like she had abandoned me-she had never stopped looking out for me. She had played Lucious's game, let him believe she had sacrificed everything for power, when in reality, she had been making sure I was safe.
And Frederick... despite his own complicated past, despite everything he had done, was here now, offering me the truth.
A part of me wanted to question everything. Another part of me, the one that had been searching for answers all these years, finally understood.