His expression was a portrait of exhaustion, a man utterly drained by worry. It was clear where his heart lay; from the moment Kaia returned, she had been his priority. The call she made as soon as she landed had tethered him to her side.
When Kael found out she had lost her sight, he rushed to her like a madman, his urgency leaving no room for explanation. Without a word to me, he brought her home, making a decision that turned my world upside down.
At first, I had no idea who Kaia was to him. Thinking practically, I suggested she stay at a hotel and hire a caregiver for her needs.
Kael frowned, his objection sharp and immediate. “Skylar, I can’t trust anyone else to look after her. Let Kaia stay here for now.” His voice softened as he added, “Before she left, she was my… best friend. I promised her I’d always be there for her.”
Helping a friend shouldn’t have been an issue, but Kael’s protectiveness, his tone, and the look in his eyes felt all too peculiar.
The truth unraveled one afternoon while Kael had stepped out to buy something. Kaia, with a smile that didn’t quite reach her sightless eyes, approached me.
“Skylar, aren’t you curious about my relationship with Kael?” she asked casually, her voice laced with something unspoken.
Before I could respond, she answered her own question. “I’m his first love,” she said, her smile widening.
Her words hit me like a blow, but she wasn’t finished. “I heard that after we broke up, he dated several girls who looked like me. Tell me, Skylar, even though I can’t see, we must look quite similar, don’t we?”
Her words froze me in place. She wasn’t wrong. Our features bore an uncanny resemblance, like shadows of the same face.
That day, I took her for a walk in the courtyard. A passerby paused to ask if we were sisters.
At that moment, the realization struck me, like a sharp, unwelcome truth. After six years of being by his side, I was nothing more than a stand-in.
The questions I had buried deep within suddenly unraveled, one by one. Why did Kael pour so much of himself into Kaia? Why, when I had been bedridden with a high fever, my voice trembling as I called him, he hesitated.
“Skylar, I’m swamped with work. I really can’t take any time off,” he’d said.
Yet now, for Kaia, he had effortlessly requested two months of leave. When his company denied it, he didn’t blink before resigning outright.