Chapter 15 : Miles Between Hearts
549 Words
The departure came faster than she expected.
Within a week, suitcases filled the quiet halls of the mansion. Assistants rushed in and out, arranging documents, schedules, and flights. Her father was already preparing meetings in Milan, while her mother was coordinating a new fashion collection set to debut in Paris.
The empire was moving.
And now she was moving with it.
Standing in her bedroom, she looked around at the place where she had spent most of her life—where loneliness once felt endless, where dreams of freedom were born beside the window overlooking the city.
Now she was finally leaving it.
But not the way she once imagined.
That evening, she met him at the airport parking lot. She had asked him not to come inside; reporters were already waiting near the entrance.
He leaned against his car when she arrived, hands in his pockets, trying to look calm.
But she could see the emotions in his eyes.
“So this is really happening,” he said softly.
“Yes.”
The single word felt heavier than expected.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then she stepped closer.
“I wish things were simpler,” she admitted.
“They never were,” he replied with a small smile. “We just didn’t notice at first.”
She laughed quietly, though her chest ached.
They had come a long way since that first accidental meeting at the café. From strangers sharing coffee to two people trying to hold onto love while their worlds pulled them apart.
“How long will you be gone?” he asked.
“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “My father wants me to learn everything about the company.”
He nodded slowly.
“That sounds like something you should do.”
“You’re not angry?”
“No.” He shook his head. “You’ve spent your whole life being protected from your own world. Maybe it’s time you finally see it.”
She reached for his hand.
“I’m afraid things will change.”
“They probably will,” he said honestly.
The truth stung—but it also felt real.
Love didn’t promise everything would stay the same.
It promised that both people would try.
He pulled her into a long embrace, holding her tighter than usual.
“You’re going to be incredible,” he whispered against her hair. “Running that empire someday.”
“I don’t want an empire if it means losing the people I love.”
“You won’t lose me,” he said quietly.
She pulled back to look at him.
“You promise?”
He smiled gently.
“I promise we’ll try.”
The airport lights reflected softly on the pavement around them.
Somewhere in the distance, a plane roared into the night sky.
Time was moving forward whether they were ready or not.
When the moment finally came for her to leave, she turned back one last time.
He was still standing there.
Watching.
Waiting.
And as she walked toward the entrance, heart heavy but hopeful, she realized something she had never understood before.
Love isn’t always about staying close.
Sometimes it’s about believing that even across oceans and continents—
Two hearts can still find their way back to each other.
- Writer
