Chapter 76: ⁷⁶: new home

Before he could come any closer, I mustered all my courage and pushed against his chest, making him stumble back from me.

"I don’t want to do anything with you!" I shot back, my heart beating rapidly in my chest as a strange sense of dread settled over me simply from looking into his eyes. "I’m telling you to stay away from me. No matter what you do, I will never believe your words, so save yourself the trouble and stay away from me!"

I turned away from him, no longer wanting to remain in the same place. Whatever he had said to me had left my mind in complete disarray.

There was no way I could believe his words.

I had suffered enough because of trusting people who were supposed to be close to me. I had learned the hard way that appearances could be deceiving, and there was no way I was going to be naïve enough to fall for something like this again.

And even if Louis Dreven had been telling the truth, there was still no way I could accept what he was saying.

My world, my ambitions, my motivation, and my mission were all focused on something else. I had already chosen the path I wanted to walk, and I wouldn’t allow anyone or anything to distract me from it.

Whatever Louis thought he felt for me, it wasn’t my problem.

I remained unusually quiet throughout the rest of my classes. Even Rose didn’t ask me what had happened. She must have noticed the irritation written all over my face and, thankfully, decided not to push me.

I was grateful for that. There was absolutely no way I wanted to discuss Louis Dreven with anyone right now.

My mind was already overloaded with everything that had happened. I had gone to confront him about uploading that ridiculous video, expecting nothing more than another argument between us.

Instead, he’d thrown an entirely new problem at me. Why did everything involving the Dreven brothers have to become so complicated?

I rubbed my forehead as I walked, trying to push the thoughts away. No matter what happened, one thing was certain. I had to stay away from Louis Dreven from now on.

The moment I reached the road leading toward the packhouse, I was finally able to breathe a little easier. The familiar sight of the gates came into view, and I quickened my steps, eager to get inside and forget about the entire day.

But just as I reached the entrance, a strange voice called my name.

"Athena Moonvel?"

I stopped. I turned around, wondering who could possibly be calling me here.

My gaze immediately fell on a sleek black car parked a short distance from the packhouse gate. It looked expensive, but there was nothing about it that seemed familiar.

Then I noticed the man walking toward me. He was dressed entirely in black, from his perfectly fitted suit to his polished shoes. His posture was straight, his expression unreadable, and there was something about the way he carried himself that immediately made me cautious.

Had he been the one who called my name? I looked him up and down, searching my memory for even the slightest hint of recognition.

Nothing. I had never seen him before. Then how did he know my name?

The man stopped a few steps away from me and offered a polite nod. "Hello, ma’am," he greeted.

I nodded, still confused. "Hello. How can I help you?"

"I was sent here by someone you know, ma’am. Here is the letter meant for you, along with the keys to that car. You will know everything once you read the letter." He gave me a polite smile as he handed both items to me.

"May I know whom the letter is from?" I asked, my fingers tightening slightly around the crisp paper as my eyes drifted toward the sleek black car parked in the distance.

"I am not authorized to disclose that, ma’am. You will know once you read the letter."

Before I could ask anything else, he turned around and walked away, leaving me with no opportunity to question him further.

I stared after him for a few seconds. What kind of strange delivery was this? I looked down at the letter and the keys in my hands before glancing back at the car.

I had no idea what was going on, but there was no point standing outside trying to figure it out. I would check everything once I was inside the packhouse. Only then could I decide what I wanted to do.

With that thought, I walked through the gates. The moment I entered the packhouse, Miss Renee’s voice reached me. "Athena, once you’re done packing, come to my office to sign the check-out papers."

I froze. "Packing?" Before I could ask what she meant, she smiled brightly at me.

"Congratulations on buying your own house!"

If I had been shocked before, I was completely speechless now. My mouth opened, but no words came out.

What? Buying my own house? When had that happened?

I stared at Miss Renee, but she had already turned around and started walking toward her office, leaving me standing there in complete confusion.

I looked down at the letter and the keys in my hands. Were these two things connected? My heart began beating faster. There was only one person who could possibly have arranged something like this.

Kael.

Without wasting another second, I hurried toward my room. The moment I entered, I closed the door behind me and leaned against it for a second, trying to process everything that had happened.

What exactly was Kael Dreven planning?

I hurried to my study table and sat down, placing the car keys in front of me before carefully opening the letter.

My eyes immediately moved across the familiar handwriting.

> After we were interrupted last night, I have arranged a new house for you to move into. I have already taken care of the formalities with the packhouse. You only need to pack your belongings, get into the car whose keys you were given, and reach the location already saved in its GPS.

Just do what I have told you. There is no need to call me. This is non-negotiable.

—Kael

I slammed the paper onto the table and leaned back in my chair, pressing my fingers against my temple as a headache began forming.

What was wrong with these Dreven brothers? Why did neither of them seem capable of giving me even a single moment of peace?

First Louis had decided to complicate my life with his ridiculous confession, and now Kael had apparently decided that he could simply arrange an entire house for me without even asking.

I looked down at the keys again. My heartbeat suddenly quickened. If Kael had gone to this much trouble, there had to be a reason.

What exactly was he planning this time?