The trust they once placed in Kyla now felt like a sharp knife stabbing deep into their hearts. Betrayal born out of trust was the most unbearable wound the Jensons could ever suffer. Kayden swore he would never forgive her. Justin fell silent. It was the first time he had ever seen his brother lose control like this. Kayden looked like a wild beast lurking in the dark, ready to tear its prey apart. As close as they were, Justin knew—if calm, steady Kayden had reached this point, then no matter what reason Kyla might give, Kayden would never forgive her. But Justin's heart still wavered. Even if Kyla had hurt Tilda—the girl who had once saved him and meant so much to him. Justin couldn't shake the thought that Kyla must have had some reason, some hidden pain, that pushed her to do it.Russell's voice was low and bitter. "Do you know why Tilda gave up on us? Why did she walk away? When she came back to this family, she was a stranger to us. I worried about Kyla's feelings more than I cared for hers. As her father, I never gave her the warmth she deserved. I gave it all to Kyla instead. "I even let my anger get the best of me because I was worried about Kyla's feelings. I misunderstood Tilda and forced her to apologize. "Tilda had already proven her innocence, but I still wanted to brush it off and make the whole thing disappear. That's why she chose to walk away in disappointment. She'll never forgive this family. "Tilda has every right to feel hopeless about me, about this family. And I—I never saw it. Why didn't I see it?" His fists clenched so tight that his nails dug into his palms. The pain in his hands was nothing compared to the guilt and heartbreak in his chest. No one could feel this regret more than Russell himself. It wasn't just that one day. No—it went far beyond that. From the moment Tilda came back home to the moment she finally cut ties with them, every step of that downfall was on him. He had driven their relationship to this point, where it felt like life or death between father and daughter. All because of a vile adopted daughter he should have seen through long ago. He had let Kyla deceive him over and over again. "Dad, please don't do this to yourself. It hurts all of us," Justin said quickly, trying to comfort him. "None of us saw Kyla's true colors. This isn't just your fault." "So what do we do now?" Justin asked after a pause. "We know who Kyla really is. Should we tell Mom?" Russell shook his head. "No. Your mother is already torn apart because of Tilda. She can't take this—not yet. Did you see how she just cried for Kyla? If she finds out what Kyla has done, it will break her completely." But Kayden wasn't convinced. He spoke coldly. "I don't care. Knowing who Kyla really is, being around her makes me sick. I can't hide it. Mom will notice sooner or later." "And Dominic doesn't know yet. Should we warn him?" Even Darell, who had always been calm, felt disgust in his voice. Just saying Kyla's name made him uneasy. Acting was his job, a performance. But Kyla's acting was real. She had used it to hurt the family, wound Tilda, and twist their love into her weapon. Russell said, "They'll be back for the winter holiday. We can talk to them privately then. "They're still tied up with the company business in Endralsia. Don't pull them away from work right now. "Darell, Justin, Kayden—since you three are home, remember: keep an eye on Kyla. Don't let her catch on to anything. "If Kyla does anything suspicious, tell me at once. If she dares to pull any more stunts behind our backs, I'll make sure this troublemaker is gone from our family—even if it means ignoring your mother's feelings!"Russell's eyes were cold and hard as steel. This time he was genuinely mad. He meant it. As Kayden suspected, betrayal by a trusted family member was unforgivable, especially when that betrayal cost them someone even more important. "All right!" they said. ... Tilda had no idea how big the storm had been that took place in the Jenson Villa. She'd spent the whole night working. Her software kept scanning the Assassin network's databases automatically. The databases were huge and locked behind layer after layer of tight permissions. Even as the Dark Web's top hacker, Tilda knew she couldn't find who wanted her dead in a few hours. She concentrated. Her fingers flew over the keyboard and mouse so fast they left a blur. Finally, her screen lit on a key lead. She injected a virus and began to break into Skin's level-six database. Soon she found the recording she was looking for. "Morse code altered by Skin itself. Task entry, buyer's voice recording. "Based on the decoded pattern match, this record fits best, with about a 75% probability."