Chapter 81: His leverage
I landed in Harrington just before evening on the earliest flight out of Japan.
The entire trip back, my thoughts had been circling the same impossible fact.
Felix was alive.
Not dead.
Not buried somewhere I would never find.
Not a memory I was being punished by.
Alive.
The word still felt foreign every time it crossed my mind.
For four years I had carried the weight of his death everywhere I went. Every decision. Every nightmare. Every moment of panic whenever his name surfaced unexpectedly. It had become such a permanent part of me that I didn’t know what to do with its absence.
The guilt wasn’t gone.
But it wasn’t the same anymore.
And neither was I.
Then there was Kuro.
I had spoken to Ethan during the flight. He sounded completely normal. Relaxed. Unaware.
That should have reassured me.
Instead it made me more nervous.
Because now I knew exactly who Kuro was.
And Ethan didn’t.
I went straight from the airport to Parallex HQ.
The elevator doors were already closing when I stepped inside. A hand caught them. They opened again.
Kuro stepped in.
Neither of us spoke as the doors closed. I watched the floor numbers above the panel and said nothing and waited.
"Welcome back, Himari," he said.
I looked at him. "What are you doing here?"
He smiled. The same easy smile I had watched him give Ethan a hundred times in the studio. "I work here."
"No you don’t."
"As of this week I do." He straightened his jacket. "Just got promoted."
I stared at him shocked .
"Someone promoted you to Parallex HQ...."
He smiled.." don’t act so surprised..."
"Who did you blackmail?" I asked.
Something moved in his expression. Brief and not entirely amused. "That’s more your department."
I said nothing.
"I got here through effort," he said. "And maybe a small push." He paused. "Unlike Ethan."
My jaw tightened.
He didn’t say it loudly. He didn’t need to. The words landed exactly where he intended them to.
"How would your boyfriend feel," Kuro said, "if he found out his promotion was handed to him? That the woman he’s in love with pulled strings behind his back and let him believe he earned it?"
What? How did he know that ?
I kept my face neutral. Years of practice. Years of having every reaction studied and used against me.
"Ethan deserves that position," I said.
"Deserving and earning are different things." He watched me. "You know that better than anyone."
I wanted to say something that would land. Nothing came.
"Why are you here? Why still stick around near Ethan when he’s got nothing to do with all this ?." I finally spoke
The amusement in his face faded gradually until what was left underneath it was something else entirely. Quieter. Older.
"I can’t let my leverage slip," he said.
He said it the way you state a simple fact. No theatrics. No raised voice. The way someone describes something practical that simply has to be done.
What does that even mean ? I asked. Before I could get an answer then-
Ding!
The elevator doors opened.
Neither of us stepped out immediately.
Kuro moved first.
He walked into the corridor before turning back toward me.
"Don’t worry, Himari."
The smile returned.
Smaller this time.
Much worse.
"I’m taking very good care of him."
Then he walked away.
I stood there for a second longer than necessary.
Watching him disappear around the corner.
Trying very hard not to think about what those words actually meant.
Then I headed straight for Ethan’s office.
The moment I opened the door, he looked up from his desk and smiled.
He was on his feet before I had fully stepped inside.
"There you are .I missed you," he said.
"I was gone three days."
"Longest three days of my life ."
He pulled me into him and I let him, pressing my face against his shoulder and closing my eyes. For a moment everything on the other side of that office door did not exist.
Just this.
Then I pulled back and he steered me toward the chair across from his desk and sat down himself.
"How was Japan?" he asked.
I thought about the hospital. The chart. Patient responded. My grandfather’s face when I asked him if there was anything else he was hiding.
"Fine," I said. "Better than expected."
Not entirely false.
" Good glad to know atleast one of us didn’t have a weird weekend" he said
Something in his tone made me pause.
"What happened?"
For the first time since I’d arrived, he hesitated.
"Nothing."
That answer came too quickly.
"Ethan."
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"Just work stuff."
"What kind of work stuff?"
"Honestly? I don’t even know where to start."
A small laugh escaped him." It’s just been a weird week for me that’s all "
"Weird how?"
He thought about it.
Then shook his head.
"Forget it."
That didn’t make me forget it.
Not even close.
Instead it made every alarm bell in my head start ringing.
I decided to change direction.
A beat passed between us.
"So I saw Kuro on the way in," I said.
Ethan’s face brightened immediately. That alone made something sink in me.
"He works here now," Ethan said. "Got promoted. Moved up to HQ. I’m actually glad he’s here."
I looked at my hands for a moment. "Is there any way to move him somewhere else?"
Ethan frowned. "What? Why?"
"I’d just feel better if he wasn’t in the same building."
"Raina." He leaned forward. "You’ve never liked Kuro. But he’s one of my closest friends. He’s been here since before I met you."
I looked at him.
If only you knew.
"Besides.....He’s been helping me a lot lately too."
My heart sank.
Helping.
With what?
I wanted to ask.
Needed to ask.
But I already knew I wouldn’t like the answer.
"Forget it," I said.
"Ethan looked at me carefully.
"Are you sure everything’s okay?"
No.
Nothing was okay.
everything is spiralling out of control and you happened to be in the centre of it . And what’s even worse is that you have no idea .
But I couldn’t tell him that.
Not yet.
So I smiled.
And lied.
"Everything’s fine."
My phone vibrated.
One message.
Unknown Number.
i already knew who it was from.
See?
i’m his very good friend and even you can’t change that .
I slowly raised my head and scanned around
Through the glass wall of Ethan’s office, I could see the far end of the corridor.
Kuro stood there and he waved at me ....
( to be continued....)
