What She Overheard in Her Own Marriage novel Chapter 454

"You guarantee that?" Kaia asked, taking a slow sip of her coffee.

"Yes. I guarantee it."

Kaia was quiet for a moment before nodding. "Fine. I'll take your word for it. But since you've given me your guarantee, the next time your mother comes at me, I won't hold back out of respect for an elder. I will retaliate. And if things get ugly, I don't want you blaming me."

Finnian looked at her, mildly stunned. Kaia possessed a razor-sharp intellect. She knew exactly how to corner him with his own words, securing an airtight boundary for herself.

The air between them grew heavy. The coffee on the table was still steaming, but Kaia didn't take another sip. It was too sweet for her taste.

"Understood," Finnian finally agreed.

Kaia checked the time on her phone and stood up. "I need to get going. I have work."

"Wait." Finnian stood abruptly, his hand shooting out to catch her wrist. "I still want to explain things between Noelle and me. I don't want you to misunderstand..."

Kaia looked down at his hand gripping her wrist, her eyes flashing with unmistakable disgust.

Stung by her look, Finnian immediately dropped his hand. "I have never thought of being with her. My care for her is purely platonic. She came to the Sanders family when she was so young, completely alone after losing her parents. I just..."

"Finnian," Kaia interrupted, her voice dropping to a glacial chill. "It's not a crime to fall for someone. It's even understandable if you're in denial. But treating her with special care while claiming it's just a sibling bond? Refusing to let her go, yet being too cowardly to claim her? If you knew you couldn't give her a future, why didn't you push her away the moment she crossed the line? You're the one who gave her hope."

Finnian's face drained of color.

"Because you enjoyed it," Kaia pressed on, refusing to let him breathe. "You couldn't bear to push her away, or maybe you wanted to maintain that ambiguous, push-and-pull dynamic. You couldn't stand the thought of her being sad or leaving the family, so you reeled her in without taking any real responsibility. That is what makes you despicable."

Finnian collapsed back into his chair, rendered entirely speechless. Kaia's words sliced through his defenses like a scalpel, exposing a truth he had never dared to examine.

"No... that's not true. I don't have those kinds of thoughts about her," Finnian stammered, surging to his feet again in distress. "Kaia, you can't accuse me of that. I truly only see her as a sister."

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