The heavy steel gate buzzed, a mechanical hornet’s nest, before sliding open. I stepped out into the Seattle gray, the drizzle instantly plastering my cheap, state-issued blouse to my skin. Three years. One thousand and ninety-five days of staring at cinder blocks, waiting for this moment.
I scanned the parking lot. My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic bird in a cage. In his first letters—before they stopped coming—Kai promised he’d be here. He said he’d have the engine running.
The lot was empty. Just slick asphalt reflecting the weeping sky.
I waited two hours. I stood there until the cold seeped into my marrow, turning my hope into a heavy, wet stone in my gut. Finally, I walked to the bus stop, clutching my meager belongings in a plastic bag. My fingers unconsciously traced the small, jagged scar on my wrist, a souvenir from a prison fight I never started.
The bus smelled of wet wool and exhaust. I sank into a cracked vinyl seat, my head leaning against the vibrating window. On the empty seat next to me lay a discarded newspaper, trampled and stained with coffee. I went to push it away, but a face caught my eye.
*His* face.
I smoothed the crinkled paper. Kai Washington, looking sharper and colder than I remembered, stood next to a woman who looked like spun sugar—blonde, petite, pristine. The headline screamed in bold black ink: *Tech Mogul Finds His Angel: Washington and Coleman to Wed.*
The air left my lungs. My sacrifice—my silence to cover his embezzlement—had bought him this. A kingdom. A queen. And I was just the ghost he’d left in the ruins.
***
Desperation has a specific taste; it tastes like bile and old lipstick. That night, I stood outside the Washington Tech Tower, shivering in a navy dress that used to fit before prison starch and stress ate away my curves. The fabric pulled tight across my chest, outdated and sad.
I tried to slip past the velvet rope, but a security guard with a neck like a tree trunk blocked my path. "Private event, ma'am."
"I need to see Kai," I said, my voice raspy from disuse.
"Amy?"
The voice was smooth, like expensive scotch. I turned. Kai stood there, flanked by donors. He didn't look happy. He looked managed. Before I could speak, he gripped my elbow—hard—and steered me into a coat check room, away from the prying eyes of the press.
"What are you doing here?" He didn't shout. He whispered, which was infinitely worse.
"You weren't there," I said, the words tumbling out. "The gate. You said—"
"Plans change, Amy." He checked his watch, a platinum piece that cost more than my mother’s life. "Look at you. You're making a scene. I have investors out there. Oakleigh is out there."
"I went to prison for you," I hissed, the anger finally sparking in the damp ash of my soul. "To save this company."
He stepped closer, invading my space, smelling of sandalwood and power. His thumb brushed my cheek, and God help me, I leaned into it. The trauma bond was a steel cable I couldn't cut.
"And I saved the company while you were away," he murmured, his eyes devoid of warmth. "I had to move on to maintain the image. For us. Now, go. We'll talk later. On my terms."
***
A week of silence followed, broken only by the terrifying reality of my mother’s medical bills piling up on her kitchen table. Then, the text came. A room number at the Fairmont. *"We need to discuss your mother's care."*
I went. I told myself it was for Mom, but deep down, a pathetic part of me still wanted to be near him.
The suite was dimly lit. Kai poured two drinks, not looking at me. "The treatments are expensive, Amy. Experimental. Insurance won't cover them."
"You control the accounts," I said, standing by the door, clutching my purse. "You promised you'd take care of her if I took the fall."
He turned, loosening his tie. The predator was back. "I did. And I am." He walked toward me, the air in the room growing heavy, suffocating. "But I need closure, Amy. Before the wedding. One last night. For old times' sake."
It was a transaction. I knew it. He knew it. But when he touched me, when he kissed me with that familiar, possessive hunger, I crumbled. I let him take what he wanted, mistaking his dominance for need, his possession for love.
The morning sun was cruel, exposing the dust motes dancing in the luxury suite. I woke up alone in the massive bed. Kai was already dressed, standing by the mirror, adjusting his cufflinks.
He didn't look at me. He just walked to the nightstand and picked up a slip of paper.
"Here," he said, flicking it onto the duvet.
It was a check. Ten thousand dollars.
"For services rendered," he said, his voice flat, business-like. "Consider us square. Don't contact me again, Amy. I have a reputation to uphold."
He walked out the door without looking back. I stared at the check, the paper trembling in my hand, listening to the silence of the room, the sound of my own heart finally shattering.
