Chapter 5
1579 Words
Collision Course
Amelia stood outside Hayes Paradise with her spine straight and her heart pounding like it wanted to escape her ribs. She rubs her sweaty palms together as if drawing comfort from it.
The building rose above her in glass and steel, cold and immaculate, reflecting a version of herself she barely recognized. Gone was the waitress apron. Gone was the girl who begged for approval she never received.
Today, she wore defiance stitched into elegance and pride.
Amanda squeezed her hand. “You’ve got this.”
Amelia exhaled slowly. “And If I don’t, at least I tried.”
Amanda snorted. “You didn’t survive your stepmother’s reign of terror and a cheating boyfriend just to fail an interview Baby, now go in there and remind them who they’re dealing with.”
Amelia smiled despite not feeling herself. “Thank you… for everything you do.”
Amanda hugged her tightly. “Call me the second you’re done okay?.”
As Amelia turned toward the doors, she didn’t look back.
She couldn’t afford to.
Ethan Hayes leaned against the edge of his desk, glass of whiskey untouched, jaw clenched tightly, you could see his veins popping out.
“You’re more quieter than usual,” Travis Bradford observed, lounging in one of the leather chairs like he owned the place which, frankly, he could afford because, he is the CEO of Bradford Vehicles, heir to a rival empire, and Ethan’s oldest friend.
“Thinking,” Ethan replied.
Travis raised an eyebrow. “hmmmn... that’s ...Dangerous.”
Ethan ignored him as usual.
The image wouldn’t leave his mind.
His father.
Becky.
His bed, he should get it burned.
“You did the right thing you know?” Travis said more seriously. “Cutting them off, Firing your PA.” He shudders in disgust.
“They betrayed me.”
“And you buried them alive,” Travis added dryly. “Blacklisting them was… thorough and very unforgiving, your style.”
Ethan’s lips curved humourlessly. “I don’t forgive disloyalty.”
Travis studied him. “You are not angry anymore.”
“No,” Ethan agreed. “I am focused.”
That worried Travis more.
Before he could respond, a soft knock sounded.
“Sir,” the secretary said, stepping in. “Your ten o’clock interview is here.”
Ethan straightened. “Send her in.”
Travis stood. “I’ll give you space Man.”
As he passed Ethan, he muttered, “Try not to terrify her, you can be quite scary.” He muses
“No promises.”
Amelia stepped into the office and the world tilted, The man behind the desk wasn’t what she expected at all. Ethan Hayes was devastatingly composed. Tall, broad shouldered, dressed in a charcoal suit that looked like it had been tailored around power itself. His dark hair was perfectly undone, sharp jaw shadowed with stubble, eyes..God..his eyes were steel wrapped in fire as he stared at her she could feel herself getting hot all over.
He didn’t smile.
He assessed.
“Ms. Amelia,” he said coolly. “Have a seat.”
She did, refusing to fidget.
“Your résumé is… unconventional,” Ethan continued, fingers on each other, drawing attention to his hands. Oh what those hands could do to her, He cuts her off before she could think any further. “Waitressing. No prior executive experience.”
“I learn fast,” Amelia replied evenly.
His gaze sharpened. “Confidence.”
“Honesty.”
A beat.
“Why do you want this job... Amelia?”
She met his eyes without flinching. “Because I need stability, And because I’m good at adapting.”
“You were fired from your last job.”
Her jaw tightened. “ Yeah, ...Unjustly.”
“Convince me.”
She leaned forward slightly. “Well, I won’t beg. Either you believe I’m capable or you don’t.”
Silence stretched.
Ethan felt it then.
Interest.
Not desire, just interest.
Something sharper, something deeper.
“Tell me,” he said slowly, “how you’d handle a man who underestimates you.”
Amelia’s lips curved faintly. “ I will let him...Until it benefited me not to.”
Something dark flickered behind his eyes.
“Good,” he said. “You’re hired.”
Her breath caught. “Just like that?”
“I don’t waste time,” Ethan replied. “Can you start immediately?”
“Yes I can.” Voice dripping of excitement.
He stood, towering, extending his hand. “Welcome to Hayes Paradise.”
When her fingers brushed his, electricity sparked brief, startling both of them, Neither acknowledged it.
Amanda screamed when Amelia told her.
“You got it?!”
“I got it.”
“Oh my God, Amelia!” Amanda laughed. “We are celebrating Tonight.”
Amelia laughed too real, unguarded. “Tonight.”
For the first time in weeks, hope felt real.
That evening, Ethan stood alone in his penthouse, new penthouse. His tie loosened, city lights burning below.
He couldn’t stop thinking about her.
The way she held his gaze.
The quiet defiance.
The fire beneath restraint.
And then, as if summoned by memory, another image of her surfaced again.
Amelia In the oxblood gown she wore today, her Curly ginger hair cascading down her back.
Skin glowing beneath low light.
Eyes unyielding.
He didn’t know when he’d noticed her.
Only that he hadn’t forgotten.
Ethan exhaled slowly.
Intrigue was dangerous.
And for the first time in a long while…
He didn’t mind the risk.
The celebration with Amanda ended later than Amelia intended.
Laughter had filled the small apartment cheap wine, music too loud, joy too fragile to trust. Amanda danced around the living room, declaring this the beginning of Amelia’s “hot CEO era,” while Amelia smiled and let herself believe, just for a few hours, that life might finally loosen its grip on her throat.
But midnight came anyway.
Reality always did.
Amelia checked the time and stood, smoothing her dress. “I should go.”
Amanda frowned. “You could stay.”
“I can’t,” Amelia said softly. “Not tonight.”
Amanda hugged her tightly. “You did amazing today. Don’t let anyone take that from you.”
Amelia nodded, clutching those words like armour as she stepped out into the night.
The house was lit when she arrived.
That alone set her nerves on edge.
She pushed the door open slowly, heels clicking against the tiled floor, exhaustion settling into her bones. Voices drifted toward her too many, too alert.
Waiting.
Her stepmother emerged first, eyes wide, face stretched into exaggerated concern.
“Oh, Amelia!” she exclaimed. “Where have you been? We were so worried.”
Carla stood beside her, arms crossed, lips curved into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
And there leaning against the wall like he still belonged was David.
Her ex.
Her chest tightened but she refused to let it show.
“I worked late,” Amelia said evenly.
David straightened. “You didn’t answer your phone.”
“I didn’t feel like it.”
The tension thickened.
Her stepmother clasped her hands dramatically. “You could have told us. We’re family.”
Amelia almost laughed.
Instead, she set her bag down carefully. “What’s going on?”
Carla stepped forward, linking her arm through David’s possessively. “We didn’t want you to hear it from anyone else.”
Her stepmother beamed. “Carla and David are together now.”
Silence.
Amelia blinked once.
Then nodded. “Okay.”
That was it.
No gasp.
No outrage.
No tears.
Just… okay.
Carla’s smile faltered. “That’s all you have to say?”
Amelia shrugged. “You’re both adults.”
David frowned. “Amelia...”
“I said it’s fine,” she repeated calmly. “We broke up.”
Her stepmother narrowed her eyes. “Don’t act indifferent. It’s rude.”
Amelia met her gaze. “So is pretending to care.”
The air snapped.
Carla scoffed. “You’re jealous.”
Amelia smiled faintly. “If that helps you sleep.”
That did it.
Her stepmother’s voice sharpened. “You’re selfish. Always have been. Everything is about you even now.”
Amelia’s hands curled into fists. “I didn’t ask for this conversation.”
“You never ask,” her stepmother snapped. “You just take, Attention, Sympathy,Space, everything!!.”
Something inside Amelia cracked but she held her ground.
“I’m tired,” she said quietly. “Goodnight.”
She turned away before they could see the tremor in her hands.
Her room was exactly how she’d left it.
Large, fancy and Safe.
She locked the door behind her and leaned against it, breath shuddering as the walls finally closed in. The composure she’d worn all evening slid off her like a costume.
Her knees buckled.
Amelia sank onto the bed, clutching a pillow to her chest as the tears came silent, burning, relentless.
She cried for her father.
For the home that never was.
For loving someone who replaced her without hesitation.
For being strong when she was so tired of it.
Outside her room, laughter echoed faintly.
Inside, she curled into herself and let the grief take her.
By the time sleep came, her cheeks were wet, her chest aching but her jaw was set.
Tomorrow, she would wake up and step into a new life.
And no one here would ever know how close they’d come to breaking her.
- Writer
