The Ghost We Left Behind
1088 Words
Ava hadn’t planned to sleep in, but the comfort of the mansion’s silence had cradled her longer than she expected. When she woke, the sun was already painting golden streaks across the marble floor.
She rolled over to find something unusual on her pillow — a thin, cream-colored envelope with her name written in familiar handwriting.
No stamp. No logo. Just Ava, in bold, elegant cursive.
Her breath caught in her throat before she even opened it. She already knew who it was from.
> Funny how fate puts us in cages we never thought we’d enter.
You should know by now that secrets don’t stay buried — not yours, not his.
See you soon.
– D.
A chill ran through her.
Damian.
It had been over a year since she’d last seen him — since the day her father was arrested and her world collapsed. He had disappeared then, right when she needed him most.
He wasn’t just an ex-boyfriend. Damian was the person who had once made her believe in promises. And then he vanished when everything went dark.
Now he was back. And somehow… he knew about her contract marriage.
She was stuffing the note under her pillow when a knock came.
“Ava?” Elise’s voice called through the door. “You have a visitor. He says you’ll know who he is.”
Ava’s pulse spiked. “What?”
“He didn’t give a full name. Said it was personal. Should I tell him to leave?”
“Is Jace home?”
“No, he left early. I assumed the visit was approved…”
Ava closed her eyes. Of course not. This wasn’t scheduled.
This was Damian.
“Tell him I’ll be down in five minutes,” she said tightly.
---
The moment she walked into the sitting lounge, her stomach twisted.
He hadn’t changed.
Damian stood near the fireplace, dressed in a tailored jacket, his dark hair effortlessly styled, a small smirk on his lips like he owned the air he breathed.
“Ava,” he said, voice smooth as ever. “Mrs. Blackwood now. Has a nice ring to it.”
She folded her arms. “What are you doing here?”
“Came to check on an old friend,” he replied casually. “Or maybe to warn her.”
“Warn me?”
He gave a little shrug. “You always did have a habit of walking into fires with your eyes closed.”
Her tone sharpened. “Don’t act like you know me anymore.”
“Oh, I know you, Ava,” he said, stepping closer. “Better than your ice prince upstairs ever will.”
“Don’t talk about Jace.”
“I see I hit a nerve.” His eyes flicked to her wedding ring. “Tell me… does he even call you by your name? Or is this just another page in that contract of yours?”
Her eyes narrowed. “How do you even know about that?”
“I know people,” he said, flashing a grin. “I keep my ears open. Especially when someone I care about sells herself to a Blackwood.”
She took a sharp breath. “You don’t care about me, Damian. You left. The night everything collapsed, you vanished.”
His smile faltered, but only for a second.
“You think I didn’t want to stay?” he asked. “You were in the middle of a storm, Ava. Your father, the media, the debt collectors — it was suicide. I needed time to figure out how to fix things.”
“And in the meantime, you let me drown.”
“I came back, didn’t I?”
“Too late.”
They stood in silence for a moment. Then he said, “He’s not what you think, you know.”
“Jace?”
Damian nodded. “His father’s company is being investigated. Quietly, of course. But if that explodes, everyone connected to him — including you — will go down.”
She tried not to flinch. “Why would you even care?”
“Because I still do.” He stepped closer, voice softer. “Tell me you’re happy here. Tell me you love him. If you can do that, I’ll walk out that door and never come back.”
Ava’s throat tightened.
“I don’t owe you answers,” she whispered.
“You’re right. But you owe yourself the truth.”
She blinked quickly. “I don’t know if I hate you or if I just hate how easily you make me remember things.”
“I was your future once.”
“And now you’re a ghost,” she said coldly. “So leave, before you make this harder than it already is.”
He stared at her a moment longer. Then he said quietly, “Just remember, Ava… ghosts only show up when the house is already haunted.”
Then he left — no goodbye, no smile. Just the soft click of the door.
---
Ava stood alone in the lounge, her pulse still racing.
Why now? Why him?
Was it a coincidence? Or was Damian’s reappearance part of something bigger?
Her head pounded. She returned to her room, slammed the door, and sat on the edge of her bed.
Her phone buzzed. A message from an unknown number lit up the screen.
> You don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into. But I do. Be careful.
– D.
---
Jace returned late that evening. Ava met him in the main hall, still shaken.
“Did you know Damian came today?” she asked before he even stepped fully inside.
Jace froze mid-step.
“How do you know that name?”
She blinked. “Wait… you know him?”
His jaw clenched. “He worked for my father’s company years ago. Embezzled money. Disappeared. And now he’s back?”
Ava's stomach dropped.
“He said he came to warn me. Said you're hiding something.”
Jace took a slow breath. “And do you believe him?”
“I don’t know what to believe.”
He stepped closer, eyes hard. “You want the truth, Ava? The real truth? Then you better be ready to handle it.”
She stared at him. “That sounds like a threat.”
“It’s not. It’s a promise.”
And with that, he walked past her, leaving Ava frozen in the hallway — torn between two men, and caught in secrets bigger than she ever imagined.
---
- Writer
