Her Purpose || Kai Parker

Chapter 48

As everyone gathered around the large dinner table, Caroline stood up, glass in hand, to make a toast.

"We are so thrilled to have Estrella, Bonnie, and Damon back with us," she announced, her voice bright with emotion. "To new beginnings and old friends!"

The clinking of glasses echoed around the table as everyone toasted in agreement.

Liv, however, couldn't keep her thoughts to herself. "Finally, you escaped our lunatic brother," she blurted out, casting a glance at Jo, who looked visibly nervous. "I hope that's what really happened."

Estrella's expression shifted from joy to confusion, her hair flickering with a faint blonde.

Jo's eyes widened in surprise, clearly not expecting the display of magic.

Estrella looked from Liv to Jo, trying to piece together the implications of what Liv had said.

Alaric, noticing her confusion, spoke up. "Yes, Jo is Kai's twin sister, and Liv and Luke are her siblings."

Estrella's eyes widened in shock, and she choked on her wine.

The room fell silent as everyone turned to her, their faces etched with concern.

Lexi noticed Alaric was about to ask something more and quickly intervened. "Alaric, stop."

"What? We're just curious to know," Liv said defensively, shrugging as if it were no big deal.

Damon, sensing something was wrong, leaned in closer to his sister.

"What's wrong?" he asked urgently, but Estrella shook her head, unwilling or unable to respond.

Alaric tried to defuse the situation. "I was just making sure she knew the gravity of what we're in."

As dinner continued, Bonnie finally asked the question that had been lingering in everyone's mind. "How did you escape without Kai knowing?"

Jo's voice trembled as she pleaded, "Please, I just need to know if he's still there, Estrella."

Her fear was evident. "Kai always wanted to be the leader, but that isn't possible as long as Lukas and Olivia are alive. If he's out, he won't just come for me—he'll come for them too."

Estrella looked down, conflicted. Jo's words weighed heavily on her, and she could feel the room's collective anxiety.

"My coven realized he'd never be capable of leading," Jo continued, her voice strained. "He killed four of our siblings to make a point—to force me to merge with him."

"We know," Damon replied, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "He gave us a picturesque version of it so casually that you'd think he was just detailing his to-do list at a corporate office."

Others who didn't know what Kai was like or what he was capable of were stunned.

Jo continued, her voice heavy with emotion. "I had protected the twins with magic, which only made him angrier. My parents saw him acting out, isolating himself from the rest of us."

As Jo spoke, Estrella felt an unexpected urge to defend Kai.

She didn't know why, but now that she had seen and knew what had happened, she felt a strange pull toward him.

It was as if the pieces of his tragic story were beginning to fit together in her mind.

She knew that nothing could justify the horrors Kai had inflicted on his family, but it annoyed her how everyone seemed to brush over the events that had led him down such a dark path.