Kael didn't want to let Rayan go.
He didn't say it.
But the tight grip on his coat, the way his eyes flicked to every exit, the backup car idling downstairs—all of it screamed what he couldn't.
Rayan touched his wrist, quiet.
"I need to do this."
Kael searched his eyes. "I know."
He stepped back.
"If she says something—"
"She will."
Kael's jaw clenched. "Call me the second it ends. Or before. Or during. I'll be outside. One word, and I end it."
Rayan nodded.
Then walked into the storm.
The café was empty.
Private. Expensive.
Soundproofed, just in case screaming occurred.
Rayan stepped inside, breath shallow.
And there she was.
Isabelle Ardent.
Still breathtakingly elegant.
Perfectly aged. Still dressed like the world owed her reverence for simply existing.
Her perfume hit him like a punch to the gut—the same one from the clinic days.
She smiled like they were meeting for tea.
"My sweet boy."
Rayan didn't sit.
Isabelle's smile widened.
"Still difficult, I see."
"You requested this meeting," Rayan said flatly. "Say what you came to say."
"Of course," she purred, folding her gloved hands over her designer clutch. "I came to bring you home."
Rayan's stomach flipped.
"There is no home."
"There is," Isabelle corrected smoothly. "And you've been throwing tantrums outside of it for far too long."
Rayan's hands shook.
She noticed.
And smiled.
"Don't worry, darling. We'll cleanse all that Alpha contamination out of you. You'll be mated properly. I've already made arrangements—"
"No," Rayan said sharply.
Her eyes flashed.
"No?" she echoed, almost amused. "You're still mine, Rayan. I bore you. Your heat cycle still obeys my bloodline."
"I'm not your property."
Isabelle's voice dropped.
"No. You're my failure."
Rayan's breath hitched.
The smile was gone now.
Replaced with the cold, glassy truth that had always lived behind her perfect Omega mask.
"You were supposed to be brilliant. Controlled. Obedient. The ideal Omega to continue the Ardent legacy. But instead, you let yourself be ruined by a savage Alpha with no title and no pedigree. You're disgusting, Rayan."
His vision blurred.
Not from tears.
But rage.
Fear.
Memory.
Kael's hand pulling him from blood-soaked cages. Kael's voice whispering that he was safe. That he was worth protecting.
And this—
This monster in a cashmere coat—
Had the audacity to say he was the problem?
"I would rather be chained in his penthouse than be free under your roof," Rayan whispered.
Isabelle blinked.
Just once.
Then she leaned forward, voice cool.
"You just chose an Alpha over your own family. I hope he's worth dying for."
Rayan didn't react.
Not outwardly.
But in that moment, something inside him clicked.
Not broke.
Not shattered.
Snapped into place.
He stood taller.
Looked her directly in the eye.
And said, crystal-clear:
"He is."
Outside, Kael was waiting in the car.
When Rayan entered, silent and pale, Kael didn't ask what happened.
He just wrapped his coat around him and held his hand.
And when Rayan whispered, "She'll try to take me by force next,"
Kael only nodded.
"I know."
"And you'll stop her?"
Kael looked at him with those dark, dangerous eyes.
And whispered:
"The moment you say the word."
It started with a summons.
Delivered by a formal courier in white gloves and military boots.
Stamped with the sigil of the Omega Bloodline Registration Court.
Rayan stared at the envelope, hands ice cold.
"You are hereby required to appear before the OBRC for reassessment of bond eligibility, inheritance stability, and Omega duty compliance."
Kael stood beside him, silent.
Then, calmly, he took the envelope, tore it in half, and dropped it into the fireplace.
Rayan watched the flames eat it.
"…You can't just ignore that."
Kael didn't look away from the fire. "Watch me."
The next morning, a news article surfaced.
"Runaway Omega Heir Refuses Family Summons—Seen Under Protection of Criminal Alpha Kael Riven"
With a grainy photo of Rayan in the city.
Next to Kael.
His hand visible in Kael's.
The narrative had begun.
"This is how she plays," Kael said, scrolling through the headline. "Make you look like a reckless pet of an unclaimed Alpha. Discredit you before you can speak. Dehumanize."
Rayan was quiet.
Then, softly: "What will you do?"
Kael's smile was razor-sharp.
"Exactly what she would do. Just better."
Over the next few days, Kael's machine awakened.
He didn't bark orders.
He whispered.
And the world shifted.
Three judges on the OBRC suddenly resigned.
Two senators who backed Isabelle's appeal had private recordings leaked of them soliciting underage Omegas for heat surrogacy contracts.
The media turned on a dime.
"Questioning the Ardent Matriarch: Is Isabelle Hiding the Truth About Her Son's Past?"
Rayan watched it unfold like a storm forming at his feet.
"Did you… plan this in advance?"
Kael tilted his head.
"I've been planning this since I found you at sixteen."
But Rayan wasn't just a figurehead anymore.
He spoke.
Gave one public statement—broadcast to the Omega rights network under anonymity protocols.
He didn't name names.
Didn't describe everything.
But he said enough.
"There are families that treat Omegas as lab rats, not sons. That demand obedience in exchange for protection. That strip away choice and call it legacy."
"I will not go back."
And the network exploded.
Thousands of Omegas commented anonymously, saying:
"I know this voice."
"This happened to me too."
"Finally someone said it."
That night, Kael poured a glass of wine and handed it to Rayan.
"You made more of an impact in five minutes than I've made in five years."
Rayan took the glass with a shaky smile. "You burned their foundation. I just kicked the last stone."
But Isabelle didn't fall quietly.
Two days later, her driver was found dead.
Poisoned.
And Kael's private guards intercepted a capture team near the outer rim of the penthouse tower—posing as security contractors.
Rayan didn't even flinch when he heard it.
He just asked, "Were they sent by her?"
Kael nodded.
Rayan whispered, "I want her gone."
Kael turned slowly to face him.
"You mean—"
Rayan's voice didn't shake this time.
"I want her dead."
Kael didn't smile.
Didn't look victorious.
He just nodded once.
And left the room.