Our Second Forever

Chapter 2

Elijah’s POV

The moment my car rolled into the town of Havenridge, I knew it wasn’t like anywhere I’d ever been before. It was quiet almost too quiet. The kind of town with flower boxes under every window, bakeries with handwritten chalkboard signs, and kids biking through the streets without a care in the world. It looked like something out of a postcard. Peaceful. Unassuming.

Boring.

I wasn’t here by choice.

Havenridge was a temporary stop on a long, calculated journey. My company was acquiring a major eco-development project just outside this sleepy town, and I was here to oversee it personally. Hands-on, they said. Boots on the ground. Normally, I’d send someone else. But this time? I wanted the distraction. The distance.

Distance from the life I left behind six years ago.

Distance from memories that still bled when I picked at them.

But the real kicker? This place was her kind of town. Alina’s. The rich, proper girl who pretended to love me until she crushed me like everyone else eventually did. I should’ve known better back then I should’ve known someone like her would never choose someone like me over a life of luxury and control. Especially when her father the mayor made it very clear how he felt about a “boy like me.”

Still, I’d believed in her.

That was my mistake.

“Sir?” my assistant, Caleb, interrupted my thoughts from the passenger seat. “We’re a few minutes from the estate.”

I grunted in acknowledgment, staring out the window at rows of storefronts with names like Miss Tilda’s Bakes and Granny’s Treasures. The place was practically begging for a Lifetime movie crew.

“Is there even a decent hotel in this town?” I muttered.

“Not really,” Caleb said with a smirk. “That’s why the firm booked you a rental estate just outside the town center. Quiet, private. Good for keeping a low profile.”

“Perfect.” I leaned back in my seat.

Low profile was exactly what I wanted. No media. No shareholders. No ghosts from my past.

The car came to a stop outside the estate, and I stepped out into the crisp afternoon air. The house was sleek modern glass against rustic wood, surrounded by a stone wall and lush trees. It didn’t match the rest of the town. I liked that. It felt like mine, separate from everything.

Caleb handed me a folder with the project details, but I barely glanced at it.

“I want to walk the town tomorrow,” I said.

He blinked. “Personally?”

“Yes. If I’m going to greenlight a multi-million-dollar development here, I want to know what I’m dealing with. Make a note to schedule a meeting with the local council.”

“Already on it.” He hesitated. “And Maya texted. She says she’ll arrive the day after tomorrow.”

I gave a short nod.

Maya. I still wasn’t sure how I felt about her coming here. She was the closest thing I had to… companionship these days. And she understood the world I lived in now money, appearances, power. We weren’t in love. At least, not the way I once was with Alina. But she was steady. Predictable.

And she hated Alina more than I did.

I walked into the estate, dropped my bag, and poured myself a drink. The memories I tried to drown out bubbled to the surface anyway.

Alina’s face the night she ended things. Cold. Unrecognizable. I’d just spent the best night of my life with her, thinking it meant everything. She made me believe it meant everything.

And the next morning, she looked me in the eye and said we were done.

No reason. No warning. Just… done.

I found out later her father offered me money. Bribed me to leave her alone.

I told him to go to hell.

Two weeks later, my little sister’s condition got worse. The bills piled up. I had no job, no prospects, and no one.

We had to leave town.

We left everything behind, including my pride.

I fought my way out of that hellhole, building something from the ground up with blood and broken fingers. And now, six years later, I had what no one could take from me. Not even Alina.

We were nothing but a memory now.

That night, I slept poorly. Not because of jet lag. Because of something else. A tension I couldn’t explain. A gut feeling I hadn’t had in years.

The next morning, I dressed in dark slacks and a fitted black jacket before heading out to walk the town. I wanted to see it for myself every corner, every crevice. People smiled at me as I passed, some waving. I nodded back, polite but detached.

Then I smelled something.

Cinnamon. Fresh bread.

A bakery.

I stopped across the street and watched people walk in and out of a small place called Miss Tilda’s Bakes. It was warm and bustling, unlike everything else in this slow-moving town. Something about it tugged at me.

I crossed the street, unsure why I was drawn there.

The bell above the door chimed as I stepped in.

The warmth, the smell it hit me like a wave of nostalgia I didn’t ask for. There were pastries lined up in glass cases, a smiling older woman behind the counter, and a little girl sitting in the corner with crayons spread out in front of her.

And then I saw her.

Behind the counter.

Time stopped.

Alina.

She turned around, holding a tray, her hair swept up in a loose bun. Her face was the same but older, more tired. Her eyes widened the moment they met mine. Her lips parted slightly like she was about to say something, but no sound came out.

I felt my stomach twist.

Six years.

And there she was.

In this town this random town I’d chosen without knowing she existed here.

I clenched my jaw. My fists.

She looked just as shocked as I felt.

But there was no going back now.

Let the past resurface. Let the truth unravel.

Because ready or not, the game had just begun.