Chapter 28 (TWENTY-FIVE) Summary and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

Chapter 28 is told entirely from Elias's first-person perspective, giving readers direct access to his inner world for the first time in a deeply personal way. The chapter opens the morning after Elias and Sage fell asleep together during a movie. Though Elias had planned to head home, he chose to stay when Sage fell asleep in his arms, noting that she doesn't often sleep this well. He spends the night holding her, describing the experience as both blissful and torturous, as her closeness creates a physical tension he struggles to manage.

To distract himself, Elias takes a photo of Sage sleeping and posts it to support her social media work, having noticed how hard she's been working on her weekly posts and comment replies. When Sage wakes, she asks what made him so caring and sweet, guessing it was his mom. Elias confirms this but adds that he's liked caring for people ever since he was adopted at age four. Sage gently asks about his biological parents, and though she quickly apologizes for prying, Elias insists he wants to tell her.

He reveals that he's in contact with his biological father only because he sends him money—money meant to prevent blackmail against his adoptive parents. Elias recounts the traumatic origin of this arrangement. At eighteen, after winning the world juniors championship, he attended a celebration party where he connected with a girl. They ended up sleeping together, and while he slept, she took compromising photos of him—including images that made it look like he had taken drugs—and sent them to his parents. The girl had been recruited by Elias's biological father, who had discovered that Elias's adoptive parents were wealthy. The threat was that the photos would be released, which would have destroyed Elias's hockey career, revoked his acceptance to Dalton, and ended his NHL dreams.

Elias's parents believed his account when he explained he'd had alcohol but never touched any substance. The girl eventually came clean, and the family's lawyers settled the matter. However, Elias's biological father continued to threaten him after the fact, and Elias chose to pay him secretly rather than tell his parents, fearing they would regret adopting him. He has been paying for years, and his parents still don't know.

Sage is horrified and points out that this is blackmail, but Elias insists the arrangement was his idea and that it's working for him. Sage challenges him directly, saying he can barely relax around people and won't let anyone in—not even her. Elias pulls her onto his lap and confesses that he feels more himself with her than anyone else, that he wants to let go when he's with her. Sage asks him to give her some of the weight he carries. She tells him she wants the real him, not the version everyone else gets. Elias agrees to open up, asking only that she be patient with him. Sage responds by kissing the inside of his wrist—the same gesture Elias used on her earlier—and promising, always.

Key Events

Elias stays overnight with Sage instead of going home, choosing not to wake her when she falls asleep during a movie.
He posts a photo of her sleeping to support her social media engagement.
Sage asks about his caring nature, leading Elias to reveal he was adopted at age four.
Elias confesses he sends money to his biological father to prevent blackmail against his adoptive parents.
He recounts the world juniors celebration where a girl, recruited by his biological father, took compromising photos of him and sent them to his parents.
His parents believed him, the girl confessed, and lawyers settled the case.
Elias reveals he hasn't been intimate with anyone since the incident and still secretly pays his biological father.
Sage challenges him to let her in, and Elias agrees to open up, asking for patience.
Sage kisses his wrist and promises to be patient, mirroring his earlier affectionate gesture.

Character Development

Elias: This chapter marks a significant turning point for Elias. Throughout the book, he's been guarded and protective, but here he voluntarily shares the most painful secret of his life. His decision to tell Sage about the blackmail, the ongoing payments, and his years of celibacy shows a willingness to be vulnerable that he's never demonstrated before. His admission that he feels more himself with Sage than anyone else reveals that his guardedness isn't who he truly is—it's a defense mechanism born from trauma. His request for patience shows both his desire to change and his realistic acknowledgment that healing takes time.

Sage: Sage's role here is less about transformation and more about demonstration of her character. She asks difficult questions with care, doesn't push when Elias hesitates, and responds to his confession not with judgment but with a determination to share his burden. Her line about wanting the real him, not the version everyone else gets, crystallizes her role as the person who sees past Elias's walls. Her final gesture—kissing his wrist the way he kissed hers—shows she's learned his language of affection and is willing to meet him where he is.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

The Wrist Kiss as a Symbol of Trust: The wrist kiss appears twice in this chapter, bookending the emotional arc. Early on, Elias kisses the inside of Sage's wrist and feels her pulse flutter. At the chapter's close, Sage returns the gesture, kissing his wrist as she promises patience. The wrist—a place where pulse is felt—becomes a symbol of intimacy and mutual trust, a physical acknowledgment that they're both willing to be vulnerable with each other.

The Cost of Silence: Elias's ongoing payments to his biological father represent the price he pays to keep his secret from his parents. His silence protects them from regret but traps him in a cycle of exploitation. The chapter suggests that silence, while sometimes protective, comes at a heavy personal cost.

Blackmail and the Cycle of Exploitation: The blackmail scheme orchestrated by Elias's biological father is a multi-layered exploitation. The father exploits Elias's adoptive parents' wealth, the girl's financial desperation, and Elias's fear of disappointing his family. Even after the legal settlement, the cycle continues through Elias's ongoing payments, showing how exploitation can persist long after the initial event.

Protective Nature and Sacrifice: Elias's caring nature, which Sage admires, is revealed to be rooted in his adoption and his fear of being a burden. His decision to pay his biological father secretly is framed as a sacrifice to protect his adoptive parents from regret—a choice that reveals both his deep love for them and his tendency to carry burdens alone.

Family: Adoptive vs. Biological: The chapter draws a stark contrast between Elias's adoptive parents, who believed him and supported him, and his biological father, who exploited him. This contrast underscores the idea that family is defined by love and trust, not biology.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 28 is the emotional core of Elias's character arc. It provides the backstory that explains his guarded behavior, his refusal to drink, his avoidance of intimacy, and his overprotective nature. Without this chapter, Elias's actions throughout the book might seem puzzling or even cold; with it, they become understandable, even sympathetic.

The chapter also marks a pivotal shift in the relationship between Elias and Sage. For the first time, Elias voluntarily lowers his defenses and shares something deeply personal. Sage's response—asking to carry some of his weight rather than running from it—solidifies her as the person who can reach him. His agreement to open up, conditional on her patience, sets up the emotional trajectory for the remainder of the book.

Finally, the chapter's themes of blackmail, the cost of silence, and the burden of secrets resonate beyond the romance genre. Elias's situation—trapped in a cycle of exploitation by someone who should have protected him—raises questions about how we define family, what we owe to the people who raised us, and how we break free from patterns of self-sacrifice that harm us more than they help.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Elias continue to pay his biological father even though the original blackmail was legally settled?

Elias continues the payments because his biological father threatened him again after the settlement. Rather than risk his parents discovering the ongoing extortion—and potentially regretting adopting him—Elias chose to pay silently. He believes the arrangement is working for him because it keeps his biological father gone and protects his adoptive parents from the pain of knowing their son is still being exploited. The deeper reason is his fear of disappointing the people who gave him a home.

2. How does the wrist kiss function as a motif in this chapter, and what does its reversal signify?

The wrist kiss appears twice. Early in the chapter, Elias kisses Sage's wrist as an instinctive gesture of affection, and she responds with a shy smile. At the chapter's end, Sage kisses Elias's wrist as she promises to be patient with him. The reversal of the gesture—Sage performing the same act of tenderness that Elias initiated—signifies that she has accepted his language of affection and is offering him the same trust and care he's shown her. It's a nonverbal promise of reciprocity.

3. What does Elias's decision to stop drinking and avoid intimacy reveal about the lasting impact of the blackmail incident?

Elias's choices reveal that the incident left him with deep-seated paranoia and a fear of being vulnerable. He stopped drinking because alcohol was part of the context in which he was exploited. He avoids intimacy because he can't shake the memory of his parents' disappointment and fears being caught off guard again. These choices show that the trauma wasn't just a single event—it reshaped how Elias approaches pleasure, trust, and connection, making him hyper-vigilant and emotionally guarded.