Chapter7
1237 Words
Amelia sat by the airport window, watching planes lift into the pale morning sky.
Each one disappeared into the clouds like it had somewhere important to be. Somewhere certain.
She wished she felt that certain.
Her suitcase rested beside her chair. Inside it were the only things she had taken from the life she left behind. A few clothes, documents, some savings, and a future she hadn’t planned.
Her phone buzzed again.
Another call from her father.
She stared at the screen until it stopped ringing.
Then she turned the phone off completely.
The announcement for boarding echoed through the terminal. People stood, gathering bags, children tugging at their parents’ sleeves, business travelers moving quickly with their laptops.
Life moving forward.
Amelia placed a hand over her stomach unconsciously. She didn’t know why she did it. Maybe it was instinct. Maybe it was fear.
Last night replayed in her mind.
The bar.
The stranger.
The calm in his voice.
The way he had looked at her like she was something worth paying attention to.
Alexander.
She still didn’t know his last name.
A small smile tugged at her lips.
Maybe it was better that way.
No expectations. No future promises. Just one night that helped her survive the worst moment of her life.
She stood and joined the boarding line.
Paris was behind her now.
Across the city, inside a towering glass building, tension filled the air.
Employees hurried through the marble lobby of Reed Enterprises, careful not to speak too loudly.
Because the man who owned the building was in a bad mood.
Inside the executive office on the top floor, Alexander Reed stood near the window overlooking the city.
Tall. Still. Dangerous in his silence.
His security chief shifted uneasily.
“Sir… we traced the taxi,” he said carefully.
Alexander turned slightly. “And?”
“It went to a café near the Left Bank. After that she disappeared into the crowd.”
Alexander’s jaw tightened.
“She booked no hotel?”
“No.”
“No credit card transactions?”
“None.”
The silence grew heavier.
Alexander rarely asked for something twice.
Yet today, the answer remained the same.
Nothing.
The woman had vanished.
“You’re telling me,” Alexander said slowly, “that a woman walked out of my hotel suite… and simply disappeared from Paris.”
The guard swallowed. “Yes, sir.”
Alexander looked back toward the skyline.
Somewhere in this massive city was a woman who refused to give him her name.
A woman who had shared his bed but left nothing behind except the memory of her laugh and the faint scent of her perfume on his sheets.
He should forget her.
He had companies to run. Deals to close. Investors to satisfy.
But the thought of forgetting irritated him.
Because he knew one thing.
She had taken the ring.
And that meant she hadn’t completely erased the night either.
“Find her,” he said quietly.
“We’re trying, sir.”
“Try harder.”
The plane lifted from the runway.
Amelia watched Paris grow smaller through the window.
Her chest tightened slightly.
Not from regret.
From exhaustion.
Everything had happened so fast.
Yesterday she had been a bride-to-be.
Today she was a woman leaving her entire life behind.
She closed her eyes.
Images flickered through her mind.
Evan’s shocked face.
Natasha’s smug smile.
Her father’s silence.
And then Alexander’s calm voice.
If you leave before I return, keep it.
Her fingers brushed her handbag.
The ring was still there.
She had almost left it behind.
Almost.
But something about it felt important.
Not romantic.
Not sentimental.
Just… unfinished.
The flight attendant’s voice broke her thoughts.
“Miss, would you like something to drink?”
“Water,” Amelia said softly.
She took the glass and stared at it.
A new life.
That was the goal.
Somewhere no one knew her name.
Somewhere she didn’t have to compete with Natasha or live under Sylvia’s cold eyes.
Somewhere she could breathe.
The plane climbed higher.
Clouds swallowed the city.
Paris disappeared.
Back at the Charles mansion, chaos filled the living room.
Sylvia paced angrily while Natasha scrolled through her phone lazily.
“This is your fault,” Sylvia snapped.
Natasha rolled her eyes. “Please.”
“She left because you couldn’t control yourself.”
“Oh, come on,” Natasha scoffed. “Amelia always plays the victim.”
Davis sat in an armchair, silent.
He looked older than he had the night before.
“She’s my daughter,” he said quietly.
Natasha looked up. “And I’m not?”
“You destroyed her engagement.”
Natasha shrugged.
“Evan loves me,” she said simply.
As if that explained everything.
Sylvia placed a hand on her daughter’s shoulder.
“What’s done is done,” she said firmly. “Amelia will calm down and come back eventually.”
Natasha smiled faintly.
She didn’t believe that.
Because she knew something her mother didn’t.
Amelia wasn’t the type to return after humiliation.
And Natasha preferred it that way.
Later that afternoon, Natasha wandered upstairs into Amelia’s empty bedroom.
The door creaked softly as she stepped inside.
Everything felt… abandoned.
The closet was half empty.
The bed neatly made.
No sign Amelia had ever lived there except a few forgotten items on the vanity.
Natasha smirked.
“Good riddance,” she murmured.
She began opening drawers.
Amelia had always owned nicer things. Jewelry. Designer bags. Gifts from her father.
Natasha wasn’t about to let those go to waste.
Then something caught her eye.
A small velvet pouch near the dresser.
She picked it up and opened it.
Inside was the ring.
Natasha froze.
The blue gemstone sparkled brilliantly under the light.
“Wow,” she whispered.
This wasn’t cheap.
Not even close.
She slid it onto her finger.
It fit perfectly.
Natasha admired it in the mirror.
“This is definitely mine now.”
She had no idea that the ring held something far more valuable than its beauty.
Hours later, Amelia stepped out of the airport in a new country.
New streets.
New faces.
No memories attached to anything around her.
For the first time in years, she felt invisible.
And strangely… free.
She hailed a taxi.
“Where to?” the driver asked.
Amelia hesitated.
Then she gave the address of a small apartment she had rented online earlier.
Temporary.
Just until she figured things out.
The taxi drove through unfamiliar streets.
Neon lights flickered outside.
Her new life had officially begun.
She didn’t know that inside her body, something had begun too.
A life that would connect her forever to the man she left behind.
Back in Paris, Alexander Reed stood in his private office as the evening sun faded behind the skyline.
His assistant entered carefully.
“Sir, the European investors are waiting.”
Alexander didn’t move.
“Cancel.”
The assistant blinked.
“Cancel?”
“Yes.”
The assistant left quickly.
Alexander picked up his phone.
“Activate the tracker,” he said.
On the other end, his head of security responded immediately.
“Yes, sir.”
Alexander looked down at the empty space on his desk where the ring box once sat.
A small device hidden inside that ring would eventually reveal the truth.
And when it did…
He would find the woman who ran from him.
No matter where she had gone.
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