Chapter 4: The Chase Always Ends Somewhere
869 Words
Selene told herself that leaving would shrink the ache.
It didn't.
It just made the nights longer, the apartment walls thinner. She heard her neighbor's TV arguing through them every evening, a reminder that some fights never ended. At Aalia, the air hung heavy with burnt oil and snapped fingers from customers who treated her like furniture until they needed refills.
No lies here. No secrets. No billionaires in disguise.
That should have been enough.
But when exhaustion finally dragged her under, Austin slipped in anyway—his low voice saying her name like it mattered, the way he'd listened without interrupting, the rare softness he buried under control. Her heart stuttered, traitor that it was.
She hated missing him. Hated herself more for it.
Austin came apart quietly at first, then all at once.
Meetings blurred. He showed up late or not at all. Whiskey replaced sleep; regret replaced everything else.
He replayed her question in the office: Why didn’t you tell me who you were?
Because secrets had kept him alive growing up. Because his father had drilled in that honesty was a luxury the powerful couldn't afford. Because cowardice was easier than watching her walk away for good.
Victoria didn't let him hide.
She found him in the penthouse, pouring another drink.
"You look like a man drowning in excuses," she said, setting tea down like a challenge. "And excuses rot faster than guilt."
"She ran," he muttered.
"Because you gave her nothing to hold onto." Victoria's gaze sharpened. "Diana's watching her. Always has. She destroys what she can't control."
Austin's grip tightened on the glass.
That night he decided: no more hiding.
He would fight for the woman who had saved him—twice now.
Selene felt the shift before she saw him.
A black car lingered across the street too often.
Coworkers mentioned "someone asking questions."
A blank note appeared in her locker, smeared with red lipstick like a warning kiss.
She threw it away. Told herself paranoia.
Then the white lilies arrived—expensive, familiar. No card needed.
She crushed them into the trash.
The next day he was there.
Austin stood at the restaurant door, suit too sharp against the grease-stained floor, eyes locked on her like gravity.
She froze mid-table wipe.
"Selene." Soft. Pleading.
She turned away.
He followed. "Five minutes. Then I'll go."
She spun. "You lost that right."
Customers stared. Then Whispered amongst themselves.
"I just want to talk," he said.
"You were silent when it counted."
She walked past him.
He didn't chase that time.
But he came back.
Outside her apartment. During breaks. Soaked in rain like the night they met.
Through his grandmother Victoria with text messages like “I raised him better. Hear him out. “
The sixth time, she met his eyes. "Come near me again, and I'll call the police."
He nodded, his voice rough. "Just let me say I'm sorry."
She walked inside. Ignoring him. He left.
She thought that was the end, but she was wrong.
The seventh time shattered everything.
She just closed from a late shift and was walking home. Magazine cover in a shop window: Diana Rowe, smiling, engaged to Austin Blake.
The universe laughed at her.
Then suddenly she heard footsteps behind her.
"Selene—wait."
She sped up. "No."
"Please. Listen—"
She whirled. "Leave me alone!"
She stepped off the curb.
Austin lunged.
The car barreled out of the dark.
The Impact. Sickening crunch, tires screeching. Glass exploding. Austin crumpled, blood pooling fast under him.
Selene screamed. And dropped beside him. Hands pressing his chest, slippery with red.
"No—no—stay with me. Don't you dare leave now."
His eyes fluttered. "I'm... sorry."
Tears hit his face. "I love you," she sobbed. "I never stopped."
Sirens wailed. Paramedics pulled her away.
"Let go! I need to be with him!" “Leave me alone!!”
She fought until they did.
The hospital antiseptic burned her nose. She paced until her legs buckled.
Diana arrived in black, perfect as a blade. Selene knew instinctively that this woman was not here to console.
The slap landed hard. Right on Selene’s face.
"If he dies," Diana hissed, "I'll make sure you rot."
Security dragged Selene out. "Get her disgusting face out of here."
She sobbed against the wall outside.
Austin survived. Barely, but in a coma. Steady pulse, but gone.
Weeks dragged. Diana visited for show—public fiancée duties. She left early one day.
Then his finger twitched. Nurse Ellie froze mid-drip check.
He gasped awake, his eyes wild. "Where's Selene?"
"Calm down, sir. She's fine. Rest."
"She's in danger. Get me to her. Now."
Desperate and Frantic.
Ellie ran for Dr. Charles.
Austin was already half out of bed, swaying.
The doctor arrived. "Mr. Blake, you haven't—"
"I'll pay anything. I need a wheelchair. Take me to her restaurant. I'll come back after."
A beat. "This could kill you."
"She's worth it."
They wheeled him out. Sent an Ambulance to Aalia.
During evening closing….
Selene mopped, her back turned.
Then she saw them in the doorway—a nurse pushing a wheelchair. Austin, pale, alive.
Tears blurred her vision. "Is this real?"
- Writer
