Chapter 233: The Price of A Secret

The song ended on a soft, lingering note.

For a moment, the private room remained unusually quiet.

Then applause filled the space.

Katherine lowered the microphone and smiled politely as several of her former classmates cheered.

"That was beautiful!"

"Just like old times!"

"You haven’t changed at all, Katherine!"

She laughed lightly at the praises.

"It’s been years. Of course I’ve changed."

Across the room, however, Ryan Banks remained silent.

His eyes stayed fixed on her.

She noticed him watching her throughout the entire song, but she had deliberately ignored it.

Now that the music had stopped, there was no reason for him to keep staring.

Yet he did.

Ryan finally raised his glass.

"So you still remember that song?"

Katherine’s smile faltered for the briefest moment.

"Of course."

"I haven’t heard it in years. It brought back memories."

Ryan smiled.

Katherine lowered her gaze.

Memories.

That was exactly what she didn’t want tonight.

One of their classmates laughed.

"You two really haven’t changed. Ryan was always following Katherine around in college."

"That’s not true," Ryan protested.

The entire table erupted in laughter.

Katherine joined them, though her smile felt increasingly forced.

"You absolutely were."

"You volunteered for every group project she was in."

"Because I was a responsible student."

"Responsible?" someone snorted. "You changed your schedule just to take the same elective as her."

Ryan laughed along with them, but his eyes never left Katherine.

"Had my reasons."

Katherine’s smile stiffened. She knew exactly what those reasons were. She had no desire to revisit them.

Fortunately, another classmate interrupted.

"Ryan, wasn’t it you who found Katherine in the old music room after class?"

Ryan’s expression softened.

"Yes."

He looked at Katherine.

"Do you remember that night?"

Her heart gave a small, inexplicable jolt.

"What night?"

"The one in the music room."

Ryan’s smile became almost boyish.

"You were practicing after everyone had gone home. I found you there."

Katherine’s fingers tightened around the stem of her glass.

Ryan continued, completely unaware of the tension building inside her.

"It was raining that night. Remember?"

She forced a small laugh.

"It’s been a long time."

"You sang for me."

Katherine’s smile froze.

Ryan’s voice softened.

"You sang the same song tonight."

The room seemed to fade around her.

She could hear the others talking, laughing, and reminiscing, but their voices had become distant and muffled.

Ryan looked at her with such warmth that she couldn’t bring herself to correct him.

"Do you remember?" he asked.

Katherine swallowed.

"Of course I remember."

Ryan smiled.

"I knew you would."

He leaned back in his chair, apparently satisfied.

"I remember thinking that I had never heard anything so beautiful."

Katherine looked away, because she remembered that night too.

Only—

It wasn’t her.

It was Kristine, her twin.

The two of them looked so much alike that even people who knew them sometimes had trouble telling them apart.

And Kristine had possessed the voice...the effortless, beautiful voice that could fill a room and make everyone stop talking.

Katherine had never been able to sing like her.

That night, Kristine had borrowed Katherine’s jacket and gone to the music room in her place.

Ryan believed he was listening to Katherine.

He had fallen in love with a voice that had never belonged to her.

Katherine stared down at her untouched drink.

That wasn’t me.

For years, she told herself that the truth no longer mattered.

Kristine was married. The past was buried.

And whatever had happened in that music room belonged to another life.

So why did Ryan’s words make her feel as though someone had just opened a door she spent years trying to keep locked?

"Katherine?"

She looked up.

Ryan was watching her.

"You’re unusually quiet."

"I’m just tired."

"You’ve always gotten quiet when you’re thinking too much."

She forced another smile.

"Maybe I’m just getting old."

Everyone laughed again.

But Katherine couldn’t.

...

In a hotel room, Claire woke just before dawn with a splitting headache.

A dull, relentless throb pulsed behind her temples. Her mouth was dry, her limbs felt heavy, and her thoughts were scattered into hazy fragments that refused to fall into place.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to remember the night before.

She remembered the black leather jacket.

The face that charmed her.

Then—

The kiss.

Her eyes flew open.

She remembered the heat of it, the sudden intensity, the way his arms had pulled her closer until she’d forgotten everything else around her.

Her cheeks warmed despite the pounding in her head.

Another memory surfaced.

His questions about Project Lexan.

The warmth drained from her face.

Her hangover suddenly seemed insignificant.

What did I tell him?

Claire pressed her fingers against her temples, desperately trying to reconstruct the conversation.

At first, she remembered mocking KitKat and criticising Isobel.

Then she remembered the presentation.

Her complaint about Morgan.

Isobel’s recognition. Her jealousy.

And then—

Project Lexan.

Claire’s stomach dropped.

She had talked and she talked far too much.

Giving him the draft of the blueprint had already been reckless enough. But discussing confidential details she had learned through her connections was another matter entirely.

Those sensitive information should have stayed in the confines the the project office in Aioryx.

She swallowed hard.

"I’m doomed," she whispered.

Then she noticed something. Someone was breathing beside her.

Claire froze.

Very slowly, she turned her head.

A man was lying beside her.

For several seconds, she simply stared at him, her sleep-fogged mind struggling to process what she was seeing.

Then her eyes widened.

The memories came rushing back all at once.

"Oh, my god."

She abruptly sat up. The quilt covering her nakedness slipped down, revealing her upper half glistening in the light of the dim nightshade.

Instinctively, she pulled the quilt higher, her face burning as she realized they had spent the night together.

The man stirred.

A moment later, his eyes opened.

A rough, sleep-laden voice broke the silence.

"You’re awake."

Claire’s heart hammered against her ribs.

He turned toward her, the faintest trace of amusement appearing on his face.

"Good."

His hand reached for her.

"Then we can continue where we left off."

Claire’s breath caught.

"You—"

He leaned closer, but this time he stopped before kissing her, giving her a moment to pull away.

Claire stared at him.

Everything about this man was a warning. Her pounding head, her missing memories, the secrets she had revealed—none of it made sense.

Yet when she remembered the night before, she also remembered the desire she had felt.

Her hesitation slowly disappeared.

She closed the distance between them herself.

The kiss that followed was no longer a surprise.

It was a choice.

The man’s arms tightened around her as Claire surrendered to the heat between them, forgetting for a little while the questions waiting for her outside that room.

For a long time, the world beyond the bedroom ceased to matter.

And when the morning light finally spilled through the curtains, Claire was left with two things she desperately wished she could forget—

the secrets she had revealed,

and the man who had somehow managed to make her want to reveal even more.