Chapter 1. Decision To Disappear
In the clueless, blessed world of richies where everything was power,
Alex Gray was known as the CEO of Great international because he had all it take to be.
CEO of Great International. A billion in dollars which mansions build on innovation with discipline. Alex was known for being untouchable by anyone both in business and in his personal life.
But behind the amazing marble of his office was decent and also he was a man carried away by his loneliness as routine, Fame had cost him the one thing he truly lacking which is genuine love.
Years ago he had been in love for a woman named Clara Wood.
She was quiet thoughtfully different and complete, she is never interested in wealth.
She didn’t know Alex was the CEO of the very company she had been at and Alex had never corrected her for one day.
Himself had wanted her to fall for the man not the money, not the position and she did. A few extremely happy weeks, they shared laughter over street food walked in hand together through under the stars and talked about dreams instead of contracts of the company.
But secretly they never stay bored for long.
When Clara found out his real identity everything begin fallen apart because she felt betrayed and she had been part of a cruel social experiment.
Her trust was shattered and with a trembling voice shaking and tearful on her eyes she told him, she never wan to see him again closer to her.
That night hot Alex so much after how many years.
Five years later he was back in the same place haunted by memories yet he was unable to move on.
He had dated celebrity models, actresses and even CEOs yet none of them had the part of him that Clara had awakened.
He had everything as a woman except her love.
One evening he was standing alone besides his balcony of his pent house shining, reflecting like diamonds beneath like a soft light in the sky.
His assistant Diana had just brought him more paper works for merging.
But instead of signing he whispered I need to disappear
Diana blinked her eyes with devastation and ask,
Excuse me sir?
I mean what i said with finality.
Not forever though It would be long enough to find something real again.
I need to know if it is possible to be loved without the power, fame even without the money and without the name.
Without waisting of time Diana he explain.
She had worked for him for over a decade very brilliant but also with broken heart.
You’re not thinking clearly you have worked your whole life for this.
I know he said but what’s the point of building a kingdom if I rule it alone?”
Thus began The Decision to Disappear.
In a week Alex vanish no where to be find from the public.
Headlines started speculating about it, still yet none guess to know the truth.
He left with a false identity.
Alex Grey moved to a small town hundreds of miles far distance away where no one had ever heard of Grant International.
There he rented a low modest apartment above a bookstore he got a job fixing laptops in a very small repair shop and dressed in worn jeans and plain shirts.
No more tailored suits.
No more black tinted.
No board meetings .
For the first time in many years Alex had no agenda but to simply live.
He learned how to make coffee the right way.
He found joy in walking to the market every Saturday.
He chatted with Mrs. Olu his eighty year old landlady who insisted on bringing him soup.
And then one rainy afternoon she walked in.
Clara.
She was standing at the counter of the bookstore below, flipping going through through a children’s book her hair wet from the rain.
Her fingers still delicate and sure. Time had changed her, made her stronger but also softer.
She looked at peace.
She smiled as she helped a little boy pick out a book then turned to leave.
Alex stood beside froze with shock, breath caught in his throat. He hadn’t prepared for this. He had come here to start fresh to live quietly peaceful not to chase the past.
But destiny had it own plan.
Over the next few days he saw her again. She worked part time at the local library and volunteered to help with a reading program for children.
She still loved stories still believed in people.
One day privilege gave him the chance to speak.
Her car wouldn’t start he offered help pretending he was from another town local with mechanical skills idea.
She didn’t recognize him not at first.
Alex Grey introduced himself.
Clara Wells she replied tilting her head as if his name tugged at something buried deep very suspicious.
They talked first about the car then about books, life and the peacefulness of the town.
Slowly with calmness clara found herself enjoying his company.
He was kind, funny, patient and a quiet strength that reminded her of someone she once knew.
And Alex started falling all over again. But this time it was even more dangerous, because now he had a second secret his identity again.
He wanted to tell her every time she smiled or laughed at his jokes the but guilty all over at him.
He promised himself he would not show up his self yet.
He wanted her to see the man behind the empire not the figure shaped by wealth, power and control.
But Clara too was hiding pain, One night after a library event she opened.
I once fell in love with someone who lied to me she said softly.
He said he wanted love but he wore a mask by hidden his true identity. When I later found out the truth it destroyed me I could not trust anyone for years again.
Alex swallowed hard.
Did he love you? He ask.
I think he did but love built on lies isn’t love at all.
He almost confessed right then but her eyes were watery and her voice cracked shaking and he couldn’t bring himself out so quick because it will shatter the fragile bond growing in between them.
Weeks turned into months they grew closer shared dinners, laughed over board games, strolled along the beach at sunset.
It was something he had for longed.
And then one day Clara found out.
An old magazine at the store. A forgotten photo of Alex Grey in a sharp suit. The man who disappeared, The man she now knew as Alex Grey.
Her heart stopped, she stared at the magazine her hands trembling.
She didn’t confront him right away.
She needed time to think and to process,
When she finally face him her voice was low but steady. Why did you do this again? She ask
He looked at her, pain in her every line of his face. Because I never stopped loving you and I didn’t want to lose you a second time.
Clara staring at him with silent. Then she whispered then you should have trusted me the first time.
The Decision to Disappear wasn’t just about leaving behind a life of power it was about risking everything for the sake of love.
But real love required truth and now, the decision wasn’t his anymore.
It was hers would she forgive?
Or walk away?
As the sun rose over the quiet edge town, two hearts stood at a crossroads bound by love divided by lies and uncertain of the road ahead.
