The office was deathly quiet, the usual hum of activity replaced by the faint flicker of fluorescent lights. It was past midnight, and Mira sat alone in the conference room, her laptop open but forgotten. Her thoughts churned as she stared blankly at the screen, the weight of her plan settling heavily on her shoulders.

Kael appeared in the doorway, his silhouette sharp against the dimly lit hallway. “Burning the midnight oil?” he asked, his voice soft but resonant.

Mira stiffened, her pulse quickening as she turned to face him. “I could ask you the same thing.”

He stepped inside, closing the door behind him. The room felt smaller with him in it, his presence commanding and impossible to ignore. “I had a feeling you’d still be here,” he said, his gaze steady.

She exhaled sharply, forcing herself to meet his eyes. “What do you want, Kael?”

For a moment, he said nothing, his expression unreadable. Then, with deliberate slowness, he pulled out a chair and sat across from her. “I want the truth,” he said simply. “You’ve been avoiding me, Mira. And after... what happened, I can’t blame you. But I need to know why you think I’d harm someone you love.”

Her hands clenched into fists beneath the table. “You expect me to believe you didn’t?”

Kael leaned forward, his amber eyes glowing faintly in the dim light. “I expect you to question how I could survive being stabbed in the heart,” he said, his tone sharp. “I expect you to ask yourself why I would endure all of this—your anger, your hatred—if I wasn’t trying to prove something to you.”

Mira’s breath hitched, his words cutting deeper than she wanted to admit. “You’ve been in my head for months, manipulating me, twisting everything I thought I knew. Why should I trust you now?”

“Because I’m offering you the truth,” Kael said, his voice low but steady. “Everything I’ve done, everything I am... I’ll show you. No illusions, no lies. Just the truth.”

She stared at him, her mind warring with itself. She wanted to reject him, to walk away and never look back. But the part of her that needed answers, that couldn’t let go of the gnawing suspicion in her gut kept her rooted in place.

“What do you mean, ‘show me’?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Kael rose from his seat and moved toward her, his steps slow and deliberate. He stopped just short of her, his gaze locking onto hers with an intensity that made her chest tighten.

“Let me share my memories with you,” he said. “Everything I did on the day your husband died. Everything I’ve done since I met you. If I’m lying, you’ll know.”

Mira’s heart pounded as she weighed his words. She didn’t trust him, not completely, but the possibility of finally knowing the truth was too tempting to ignore.

“Fine,” she said, her voice trembling. “Do it.”

Kael nodded, his expression solemn. He stepped closer, his hands trembling slightly as he cupped her face. “This might feel strange,” he warned, his voice soft.

Before she could respond, he pressed his forehead to hers.

Mira gasped as a flood of sensations overwhelmed her. Images and emotions flickered through her mind like a kaleidoscope:

Kael was standing in his sanctum, the air crackling with magic as he reached out to the threads of fate. -  His growing frustration as he realised he couldn’t intervene in the events surrounding Daniel’s death. - The pain in his chest as he watched her grief from afar, powerless to comfort her.

And then came the truth. The moment Daniel’s life was snuffed out—not by Kael’s hand, but by the cold, impersonal machinations of fate itself. The accident was no one’s doing, a cruel twist of chance that left both Mira and Kael reeling in its aftermath.

The images faded, leaving them both breathless. Kael stepped back, his hands falling to his sides as he looked at her, his eyes filled with raw vulnerability.

“Now you know,” he said, his voice barely audible.

Mira staggered back, her legs threatening to give out beneath her. She pressed a hand to her chest, struggling to process what she had seen. “You... you didn’t do it,” she whispered, her voice breaking.

“No,” Kael said, his tone heavy with sorrow. “I would never.”

Tears filled her eyes as the weight of her actions crashed over her. She had blamed him, hated him, even tried to kill him—and all for something he hadn’t done.

“I’m sorry,” she choked out, her voice thick with emotion.