Chapter 6 : A City Left Behind
1131 Words
The airport was already alive with movement when Bianca stepped through the glass doors. Travelers hurried across the polished floors, dragging suitcases behind them, voices blending into a steady hum of announcements and distant conversations. The world moved as if nothing had changed, but for Bianca, everything had. The black car came to a stop at the departure terminal. The driver quickly stepped out and opened the door.
“We’re here, Miss Shane.”
Bianca nodded softly and stepped out, gripping the handle of her suitcase. The early morning air felt cool against her skin and for a while, she simply stood there, staring at the massive airport building in front of her. Once she walked through those doors, there would be no turning back.
“Mr. Grant asked me to give you this,” the driver suddenly said making Bianca turn. He handed her a sleek black envelope and she opened it carefully. Inside were three things. A passport, a boarding pass and a black credit card. Bianca blinked in surprise. The boarding pass revealed the destination.
London.
Her heart skipped slightly. Alexander Grant had moved faster than she expected. The driver spoke again. “Mr. Grant will meet you there.” Bianca slipped the items back into the envelope.
“Thank you.”
With that, she turned and walked toward the entrance with each step heavier than the last.
Inside the airport, the bright lights reflected off the marble floors. The crowd of travelers felt strangely distant. Bianca approached the check in counter and handed over her passport and the attendant smiled politely.
“Miss Shane, welcome. Your flight will begin boarding in about forty minutes.”
“Thank you.” Bianca replied softly.
Bianca moved toward the waiting area and sat quietly by the large windows overlooking the runway. Planes took off one after another, rising into the pale morning sky. Her reflection stared back at her through the glass. The woman looking back seemed calm but inside, her emotions were tangled. Five years, five years of love, loyalty, and sacrifice, all gone in a single night. Bianca closed her eyes briefly as Carson’s voice echoed faintly in her memory.
“The situation with Victoria is complicated.”
A bitter smile touched her lips. No, it wasn’t complicated, it had been a choice and Carson had made it very clearly.
Bianca opened her eyes again, this time, they were steady. If that chapter of her life had ended, then she would write a new one.
Across the city, Carson Dane stood in his office overlooking the skyline. He hadn’t slept a wink. The events of the past twelve hours replayed endlessly in his mind. Bianca walking away from him in the hallway, the elevator doors closing between them, the empty apartment he found when he returned.
Carson’s jaw tightened at those thoughts. She had actually left, completely. A knock sounded on the door.
“Come in.”
Daniel stepped inside and his expression was serious.
“I checked with the building manager,” Daniel said.
“And?”
“She moved out this morning.”
Carson’s chest tightened slightly.
“Did she say where she was going?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Carson turned toward the window again. The city stretched endlessly below and somewhere out there, Bianca was leaving his life, possibly forever.
Daniel studied him carefully.
“You look like hell.”
Carson ignored the comment.
“Find out where she went.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow.
“That might not be easy.”
“Try anyway.”
Daniel sighed, “Carson… are you sure about this?”
Carson’s gaze hardened.
“About what?”
“You’re engaged to Victoria now.”
The words hung heavily in the air but Carson didn’t respond.
Daniel continued carefully.
“Bianca leaving might actually make things simpler.”
Carson finally turned around.
“Simpler?”
Daniel shrugged slightly.
“From a business standpoint.”
Carson’s expression darkened.
“She wasn’t just a business problem.”
Daniel held up his hands.
“I know,I’m just saying”
Before he could finish, Carson’s phone suddenly buzzed on the desk and the screen lit up.
Victoria Lang.
Carson stared at the name for a moment before answering.
“Yes?”
Victoria’s smooth voice flowed through the speaker.
“Good morning, Carson.”
“What do you want?”
A soft laugh followed, “Is that how you speak to your fiancée?”
Carson remained silent as Victoria continued casually.
“I heard Bianca left the city.”
Carson’s eyes narrowed.
“How do you know that?”
“News travels quickly.”
Something about her tone felt strange, almost satisfied. Victoria spoke again
“You shouldn’t worry too much about her.”
Carson’s grip on the phone tightened.
“She meant something to me.”
There was silence at the other end of the line, then Victoria’s voice softened slightly.
“And now she doesn’t.”
Carson didn’t answer while Victoria sighed lightly.
“We have more important things to focus on now.”
“Like what?”
“Our future.”
Carson said nothing and then Victoria’s voice became more serious.
“My father wants to finalize the investment agreement soon.”
Carson frowned slightly.
“That wasn’t supposed to happen until next month.”
“Plans change.”
Carson’s instincts stirred uneasily.
“Why the sudden rush?”
Victoria paused briefly before answering.
“You know how business works.”
Carson didn’t look convinced but before he could question further, Victoria spoke again.
“Don’t worry about Bianca anymore, Carson.”
Her voice carried a subtle edge.
“She’s not coming back.”
Back at the airport, the boarding announcement echoed through the terminal.
“Flight 247 to London is now boarding.”
Bianca stood slowly, her suitcase rolled quietly behind her as she joined the line. Within minutes, she stepped onto the aircraft. The cabin lights glowed softly and she located her seat by the window and sat down. As the plane began to move along the runway, Bianca looked out at the city one last time. The skyline slowly faded in the distance and the life she once knew disappeared beneath the clouds.
Bianca closed her eyes, five years from now, everything would be different and when she returned to this city, no one would recognize the woman she had become, especially Carson Dane.
But thousands of miles away, in a quiet office in London, Alexander Grant stared at a file lying open on his desk. Inside it was Bianca’s profile and at the top of the page were two simple words:
Project Phoenix.
Alexander leaned back in his chair as a faint smile crossed his face.
“Welcome to the beginning, Miss Shane.”
- Writer
