Chapter 4

Hudson POV:

The words felt like a physical blow. Jamiya Morrow. Dead. No. It couldn't be. My fist slammed down on the mahogany desk, the sharp crack echoing through the cavernous office.

"Impossible!" I roared, my voice raw and unfamiliar even to my own ears. "You're mistaken! She wouldn't-she couldn't be on that bus!"

My assistant, Marcus, a man usually unflappable, stood before me, his face a ghostly white, his eyes wide with terror. He had delivered the news, trembling. "Sir... the reports are confirmed. Dr. Gates identified her as a passenger. The authorities... they found her name on the manifest."

"No!" I surged to my feet, overturning my chair. "Find her! Now! Get every private investigator, every resource we have! She's out there! She's always been a coward, she would never take her own life like this!" My mind, usually so precise, was a whirlwind of denial and fragmented thoughts. Jamiya. On a bus. Dead. It was absurd.

Within the hour, my private jet was cleared for departure. I flew to the crash site, Marcus at my heels, a grim shadow. The scene was apocalyptic. Twisted metal, scorched earth, the acrid smell of burnt plastic and something far more sickening. Rescue workers moved like phantoms through the haze, their faces grim.

I pushed past them, my senses overwhelmed. I closed my eyes, trying to catch a phantom scent, a wisp of her unique perfume, anything. But there was only ash and decay.

A tired-looking police chief approached me, his face etched with sorrow. "Mr. Holland, I'm truly sorry. The impact was catastrophic. The fire... there's nothing left. No one survived."

"She was carrying a small, worn leather satchel," I said, my voice hoarse. "And... she wears a simple silver bracelet. With a small, etched bird."

The chief shook his head. "We haven't recovered anything identifiable, sir. Just... fragments."

My heart sank, a leaden weight in my chest. Then, a rescue worker, his face streaked with soot, approached the chief, holding something in a plastic evidence bag. "Chief, we found this embedded in one of the seats. It's... a ring. Burnt, but clearly once very ornate."

My breath hitched. The chief took the bag, then looked at me, a flicker of understanding in his eyes. He slowly extended the bag towards me.

Inside, nestled amongst charred debris, was a wedding ring. Half-melted, blackened, grotesquely twisted, but unmistakably hers. The intricate carving of the Holland crest, a delicate lion rampant, was still visible on the one side not completely consumed by the flames. The ring I had given her ten years ago. The ring she had worn every single day, even when I publicly scorned her.

Marcus gasped, his hand flying to his mouth. He looked at me, his eyes wide with a horror that mirrored my own.

My hand trembled as I reached for the bag, my fingers brushing against the cool plastic. I snatched it, tearing it open. The metal was still faintly warm, retaining some residual heat from the inferno. And then I smelled it. Beneath the stench of smoke and death, a faint, almost imperceptible floral note. Her scent. Indistinguishable to anyone else, but to me, it was a ghost.

My world tilted. The unyielding proof shattered whatever fragile hope I had clung to. The ring. Her scent. The passenger manifest. Jamiya. Dead.

A non-human sound tore from my throat, a primal roar of agony and disbelief. It was a sound I hadn't known I possessed. I dropped to my knees, the ground cold and unforgiving beneath me. The physical pain of the fall was nothing compared to the searing, infernal agony that ripped through my chest.

Her goodbye note, left on the hospital table, flashed through my mind: "No more debts. Be happy."

No more debts.

No. It wasn't about debts. It wasn't about freedom. It was about me. All of it. All the endless, petty cruelties. The dismissive glances. The cutting words. The ten years of neglect. The public humiliations. The way I had dismissed her love, her loyalty, her very presence. I had pushed her away, time and again, convinced she was the architect of my misery. And now, fate, in its cruelest irony, had corrected my "mistake." It had taken her. Forever.

The acrid smell of smoke filled my lungs, but all I could taste was regret. The vibrant, glittering world around me faded into a dull, featureless landscape. All that remained was her face, her gentle eyes, her quiet strength. The woman I had scorned, the woman I had driven to this desperate act.

"Jamiya," I whispered, her name a broken plea on my lips. My voice cracked, raw with a grief that threatened to tear me apart.

The non-human howl rose again, a sound of pure, unadulterated remorse. I had achieved everything I thought I wanted-Adaline was safe, the corporate threats seemingly averted by my parents' swift action following Jamiya's "warning." But I had sacrificed the one thing I truly needed. The quiet, steadfast presence that had anchored my chaotic life, even when I refused to acknowledge it.

The sky above was a cold, hard black. I was utterly alone, adrift in an ocean of my own making. My universe had collapsed into a silent, endless scream.