One Night, His Unseen Legacy

iant but cold Dr. Julian Burke, I drugged him for one night of

Julian, smiling tenderly at a younger woma

end our sham engagement,

rison. While I was inside, I was brutally attacked and lost a kidney. My fathe

or a ghost, a convenient villain to protect her manipul

he secret I carried

would build a new life, and he would never know

pte

dler

face. Three years. Three years since I last saw him, three years since I drugged

screen. She was my best friend, my confidante, and my

iliar blend of concern and exasperation. "

ring Julian Burke's updates had become m

Burke' s heart. He was brilliant, a neuroscientist whose mind was a universe of its own, but hi

s deal, a $5 million donation to his lab, brokered by Charlton, meant to secure my position by his side. I had convince

ed, his mind already miles away. I saw my chance, a twisted, desperate gamble. A sedative in his drink, a night stolen, a me

voice thin against the

back. "Look, I know you said no news, but this is

fingers, trembling slightly, navigated to the link she' d sent minu

there it w

li

sness. He was smiling. A tender smile, a soft bend of his lips that I had only ever dreamed of seeing d

e caption named her.

er for Kathryne. His deceased first love. The woman who

ve I had craved, the tenderness I had begged for, the warmth that had been systematically den

cheaper, younger version of his lost love. My

here?" Gale' s voice

rely a whisper, then hardening,

see the photo?" Ga

asting like ash. "And I'm going ba

d, and razor-sharp. I needed to confront the past, to s

m reel. It was at one of Charlton' s excruciatingly dull charity galas. Another evening of forced smiles and vapid

an escape, when they landed on him. Dr. Julian Burke. He was tucked away in a corner, far from the glittering crowd, his intense gaze fixed on a complex equation

a thousand times in frustration or triumph. There was an intellectual fire in his eyes, a depth that captivated me instantly. He wasn't lik

g I had ever experienced. An obsession, perhaps, born from the sheer novelty of someone

unding a frantic rhythm ag

hrough me. There was no recognition, no flicker of interest.

esonant baritone that sent shivers down m

fering a dazzling smile. "A

to his napkin. I was used to being the center of attention, but Julian Burk

hilosophy – anything to capture his attention. He responded with polite, detached answers, his eyes al

hat night, watching me from across the room as I tried to

retorted, my gaze still fixed on Julian. "It mea

proached Julian about potential funding for his neuroscience lab. Julian, always needing resources for his cut

d his complex research – I threw myself into his world. He tolerated my presence, sometimes even engaged in discussions, but

e night, watching me scroll through photos of Julian, a wi

er, of course. Everyone in his small, academic circle did. She was the reason for his perpetual melancholy, the wound that never healed. Gale had t

sisted, though a cold dread snaked around my he

, Chan," she warned. "Especiall

t go. I believed my love was powerful enough to b

It was a cold, calculated move, a business transaction disguised as romance. Julian, desperate for funding for "The K.W. Initiative" (a project I later learned was named after Kathryne Wilkerson, a research initiat

Our conversations were factual, devoid of emotion. He never touched me unless absolu

inety-nine failed attempts at hi

y alcohol and a devastating sense of impending loss. I saw him packing, his mind alread

ed one night. One moment of intimacy, however stolen, however wrong. I wanted t

der my touch, but his mind absent. The morning after, I woke alone. He was gone, a note on the pillow. Emergency

bruised and battered, finally shattered.

Julian and Hayden, a fresh, festering infection. He had found his replacement. His

. I was coming back to burn this bridge down, once and for all. To end this engagement that had become a monument to my