Aminda POV
The cold in Zurich was different. It was a clean, sterile kind of cold that matched the inside of my chest perfectly.
I spent my days at the clinic, burying myself in patient files and rigorous rehabilitation schedules. Work was the only anesthetic that actually numbed the ache. If I kept my hands busy, I didn't have to think about the fact that my heart was still beating in a chest that felt completely hollowed out.
"You look like you haven't slept in a week," Jayden said.
His face was pixelated on my laptop screen. The connection was spotty, but I could see the deep lines of concern etched into his forehead.
"I'm fine, Jay," I said, forcing a tight smile. "Just busy. The clinic is demanding."
"You're lying," he countered, his voice flat. "But I won't push it."
He hesitated, his eyes darting off-screen, probably at Isaias. They were always together, my only lifeline to a life I was trying desperately to amputate.
"Just say it," I said, taking a sip of stale, lukewarm coffee. "I can tell you have news."
"It's Colton," Jayden said.
The name landed like a stone in the quiet room. Heavy. Sinking.
"And Charlie."
I didn't flinch. I had practiced this moment in the mirror a thousand times. "What about them?"
"They're getting married. Next month."
I nodded. Of course they were. "That was fast."
"He's renting out the Château de Chillon," Jayden continued, his voice laced with disgust. "He's flying in a designer from Milan for her dress. He's spending millions, Aminda. It's... it's obscene."
I looked out the window at the snow-capped Alps, blindingly white against the blue sky.
When you get me walking again, I owe you a future.
That was what he had said to me. His voice, low and rough with pain. But the future he was buying wasn't for the woman who taught him to walk. It was for the woman who waited at the finish line.
"He's giving her the world," I whispered. "Just like he promised."
"He's an idiot," Jayden snapped. "He's buying a fantasy. But that's not why I called."
I turned back to the screen. "Why did you call, Jay?"
"Esther Carlton is organizing a dinner. A 'reconciliation' dinner." He made air quotes with his fingers. "She knows Isaias and I haven't spoken to Colton since the hospital. She wants to fix it."
"So go," I said. "He's your best friend."
"We aren't going," Jayden said. "Not unless you're there."
My stomach dropped. "What?"
"Esther called me. She said if you come, if you show that there's no bad blood, maybe we can all move past this. She wants to fly you in. First class. Just for the weekend."
"Jayden, no. I can't go back there."
"We won't go if you don't," he said stubbornly. "And if we don't go, Colton cuts us out of the company. He's already threatening to pull funding from Isaias's startup. He's spiraling, Amy. He's destroying everything because we took your side."
I closed my eyes.
Colton was punishing them because of me. Even from thousands of miles away, I was the wrench in the gears.
I looked at the check on my desk. The five million dollars I hadn't touched. The price tag on my silence and my disappearance.
If I went back, it would be humiliation. It would be walking straight into the lion's den.
But Jayden and Isaias had stood by me when I was drowning. They had pulled me out of the water. I couldn't let them drown now.
"One dinner," I said softly.
"One dinner," Jayden promised. "We'll be right beside you. You won't have to say a word to him."
I hung up the phone.
I walked to the window and pressed my hand against the freezing glass, letting the chill seep into my skin.
I wasn't the same girl who ran away crying. I was colder now. Harder.
I would go to this dinner. I would smile. I would show Colton Carlton that he didn't break me.
I would watch him build his future with Charlie, and I would finally, truly, say goodbye.
I just didn't know that a goodbye could be so dangerous.
