Precaution
“Mother. Father. Apologies for the delay,” Caitlyn said, sliding into the booth with effortless grace. “I trust I haven’t kept you waiting too long?”
Cassandra Kiramman didn’t blink. “Not at all, darling,” she replied with a smoothness only years of diplomacy could teach. The faintest smile touched her lips, as rehearsed as the lie it carried.
Across the table, Tobias’s mouth twitched. Just enough to betray the truth.
Caitlyn met his eyes, one brow arching with quiet amusement. “Strange. Father’s expression seems less forgiving.”
Cassandra took a sip of tea, her crimson nails curved around porcelain. “Perhaps I should’ve left him outside in the rain. Build some character.”
Tobias sighed, long-suffering and theatrical. “Always the villain in this household.” He leaned back, feigning offense. “And after all I do to keep this family stylish and scandal-free.”
Caitlyn allowed herself a small, indulgent laugh as she lifted her cup. Steam rose between them, softening the air with fleeting warmth. “Some would say that’s a full-time occupation.”
“Oh, it is,” Tobias muttered dryly. “But I endure. For the two of you. My sharp-tongued, impossible girls.”
The rhythm between them was familiar. For a moment, it felt like old times. Just three Kirammans at a table, pretending they weren’t ghosts of themselves.
Cassandra set her cup down, folding her hands neatly. “We haven’t visited your condo yet,” she said, voice gentle, but pointed. “How have things been?”
Caitlyn inhaled through her nose, gaze calm. “Routine. Uneventful.”
She reached for the menu, though her eyes barely skimmed the words. Conversation was always easier when it wasn’t about her.
Tobias tapped his fingers against the table’s edge, watching her closely. “Jayce tried to set you up again yesterday, didn’t he?”
Caitlyn froze mid-page. The menu dropped with a soft thud as she leaned back with a sigh. “Please tell me you haven’t deployed another surveillance team.”
Tobias raised a brow. “We haven’t deployed anyone new.”
Across the table, Cassandra took another sip, her posture unbothered. “You’re a Kiramman, Caitlyn. And our daughter. Either title would warrant enemies. Both? Precaution is a necessity.”
“It’s not precaution. It’s intrusion,” Caitlyn muttered.
“Semantics,” Tobias replied, voice even. “But you’re alive. That counts for something.”
The room cooled by a few degrees.
“I’m not afraid of her,” Caitlyn said, eyes lowered.
But her voice gave her away, just enough.
Cassandra caught it instantly. Her gaze sharpened. “Are you certain you won’t reconsider our offer? One move, Caitlyn. She disappears. Quietly.”
“No.” Caitlyn’s tone was soft, but resolute. “You don’t strike someone like Margot without fallout. One hit, and Maddie sends the whole arsenal.”
They all knew the truth. Maddie Nolen wasn’t just old money, she was old blood, born into a syndicate that never forgot a slight. And she’d defend Margot the way vipers defend a nest: with poison and precision.
Once, Caitlyn might’ve challenged that. Might’ve invited it. But that version of her, the girl who bled for love and wore heartbreak like armor, was gone. She’d died in silence, and Caitlyn had buried her deep.
“She tore you apart,” Tobias said tightly. He dropped his menu onto the table. “You think we could just forget? What she did while we were halfway across the world?”
Caitlyn said nothing.
She didn’t need to. The silence was heavy with the memory.
Maddie had waited until Caitlyn stood alone. Parents overseas. Jayce knee-deep in Hextech. Allies silent, unwilling to risk their own standing. In seventy-two hours, Maddie dismantled her: disowned, blacklisted, paraded like a cautionary tale. And Margot? She stood there, let it happen, then vanished into the arms of the woman who lit the match.
“She moved when you were weakest,” Tobias continued, quiet fury lining his words. “And you hit back. Margot’s hand still bears the scar. But Maddie? What she did? That was warfare.”
Caitlyn leaned into her hand, posture loose but eyes worn. “I didn’t want to become someone bitter. Someone who lives just to get even. That path… it doesn’t end. It just consumes you.”
Tobias studied her. There was something heavy behind his stare. Guilt, maybe. Or grief. “You’re different now. It’s only been two years, but… it feels longer.”
Caitlyn smiled faintly. “Change comes at a price. But I paid it.”
Cassandra’s expression darkened. “You gave everything to that girl. And she left you in the dirt.”
Her voice didn’t tremble, it sliced.
Caitlyn didn’t argue. She had played her part well. She’d stood by Margot when no one else would. Protected her. Handled the deals, the press, the threats. All while Margot cowered behind Maddie’s name and Caitlyn’s loyalty.
And when the storm hit?
Margot ran.
Caitlyn stayed.
“I just want to move on,” she murmured, fingers brushing the back of her neck. An old scar hid there, still raw in memory if not in flesh. “The past doesn’t change. And I won’t let it decide who I am anymore.”
Silence followed.
Tobias and Cassandra exchanged a glance. There was no counterpoint left. Nothing that could take the sting from history.
Caitlyn spoke first.
“We don’t do this enough,” she said softly, eyes watching the tea’s steam curl and fade. “Let’s not ruin it talking about ghosts.”
Tobias let out a slow breath, somewhere between relief and exhaustion. “Fair enough. Let’s pick something before the kitchen closes.”
Across from her, Cassandra said nothing. Instead, she reached across the table, her manicured hand brushing over Caitlyn’s. The gesture was simple. A tether more than an embrace.
Her thumb moved in small, soothing circles.
Caitlyn didn’t flinch.
She let the moment pass between them.