chapter 10:A Heart Divided
725 Words
The next morning brought no peace.
Amara sat at a café in SoHo, sunglasses on, trying to drink her coffee without shaking. Her hands had a mind of their own.
The headlines hadn’t stopped. Social media buzzed with her name. Some called her a gold digger. Others painted her as a mystery — the woman who’d finally “tamed” Liam Blackwood.
But the worst part?
She hadn’t heard from him.
Not a call. Not a text. Not a word since their argument.
The silence cut deeper than Vivian’s jabs or the tabloids’ lies.
He had kissed her like she meant something.
Then vanished like she didn’t.
Her phone vibrated.
This time, not a message.
A news alert.
> BLACKWOOD SCANDAL: A Hidden Arrest at 19 — Leaked Records Reveal Liam’s Buried Past
She froze.
Her thumb hovered over the screen as her chest went tight.
She tapped the link.
And there it was.
A mugshot. Grainy, but unmistakable.
Liam — younger, bruised, and bloody — staring blankly at the camera.
> Arrested for aggravated assault after a bar brawl left one man hospitalized. Charges dropped. Sealed record.
But now? Exposed.
The media called it “violent.” “Dangerous.” “A red flag.”
They didn’t know what she knew.
They didn’t see him — the man who touched her like she was sacred, who kissed her like she was the only thing tethering him to good.
She swallowed and dialed his number.
Straight to voicemail.
Again.
Her chest ached.
Was he hiding out of shame?
Or was this… the end?
---
Meanwhile...
Liam sat in his penthouse with a glass of untouched whiskey and a shattered sense of control.
He’d known it was coming.
That someone — Vivian, maybe — would use his past against him.
But this?
This felt like betrayal.
Worse — it felt like a crack in the very image he’d built to survive.
He didn’t care about the board. Or the press.
He cared about Amara.
And what she’d think when she saw it.
Would she believe it?
Would she run?
The knock on the door was soft.
Then louder.
He rose slowly, and when he opened it...
Amara stood there.
No makeup. No armor.
Just her.
“I saw the article,” she said softly.
He didn’t move.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked.
“Because it doesn’t matter anymore.”
“Yes, it does.”
He ran a hand over his face. “It was stupid. I was 19. Some guy grabbed my sister’s arm outside a bar. I saw red. Broke his jaw. I thought it would ruin me forever. So I buried it. Paid off the press. Hid it from everyone.”
“But not from yourself,” she whispered.
He met her gaze. “Are you afraid of me now?”
“No,” she said. “But I’m afraid for you.”
His breath caught.
She stepped inside, closing the door behind her.
“I know what they’ll say. That I should run. That you’re dangerous. But I’ve seen the man you are. The one who protects. The one who listens. The one who touched me like I mattered.”
“Amara…”
She shook her head, tears brimming.
“But I need to know you won’t shut me out every time things get hard.”
He was silent.
Then: “I didn’t think I deserved you.”
“Don’t decide that for me.”
And just like that, the air between them snapped tight again.
He reached for her — slowly, almost reverently.
When their hands touched, something inside both of them broke open.
Not lust.
Not tension.
Something deeper.
He pulled her into his arms.
And for the first time since this all began… they didn’t kiss.
They just held on.
Because this wasn’t about fire anymore.
It was about survival.
---
That Night...
They lay in silence.
Not tangled, not rushed.
Just near.
Just close.
“I’m going to the press,” Liam said quietly.
Amara turned toward him. “What?”
“I’m telling the truth. I’m not hiding anymore. If I want a future with you, it has to start with being honest.”
She blinked.
“You’d do that?”
“For you?”
He looked at her.
“I’d do anything.”
- Writer
