Genesis jumped from her seat like it had caught fire. Her eyes locked onto Kieran’s, and she shook her head—fast, frantic—signing, No one. Nobody.

But he didn’t believe her.

Kieran stalked forward, eyes dark and dangerous. His gaze flicked between Genesis and Melissa—sharp, calculating. His voice was quiet, but every word landed like a blade.

“Who. Kissed. You?”

Before Genesis could even think of lying again, Melissa stepped forward quickly, voice high and falsely cheerful.

“It’s nothing, really—it wasn’t about her. We were just talking about some random book stuffs. Just girl stuff. Harmless.”

She let out a nervous laugh.

She tried to defuse the ticking bomb in front of...