Chapter 2

Eleanor POV:

He called out my name, but I kept walking. The sound of his voice, once a comfort, now felt like a distant echo in a hollow chamber. I reached into my pocket, pulling out the small, ornate locket he' d given me on our fifth anniversary. It represented a life, a dream, a promise. I tossed it over my shoulder without breaking stride, the faint splash swallowed by the city' s hum. It was over. Truly over.

My phone vibrated in my hand. An unknown number. I almost ignored it, my mind still reeling, but something made me answer.

"Eleanor Fisher?" a cautious voice asked. "This is Robert, from the agency you hired two years ago."

I paused. Two years ago. I had almost forgotten. When Blake and I were at the peak of our love, before our empire, I had secretly hired a private investigator to find my birth parents, a vague longing for roots I never fully understood. I had wanted to surprise Blake with the news, a family of my own to match his own long-lost family I was trying to locate for his birthday. A cruel twist of fate.

"Yes, Robert. What is it?" I asked, my voice flat.

"We have a lead. A very strong one. We believe we've found your biological family. The Fryes. From Silicon Valley."

My world tilted. The Fryes? Tech billionaires? It felt unreal, a plot twist too grand for my gritty life. I hung up, the information a dull hum in my mind, overshadowed by the raw wound of Blake' s betrayal. But a seed was planted. A new path.

I needed to drown out the noise, the images of Blake with Hayleigh, the echo of his words. I drove to the underground racing circuit. The roar of engines, the smell of burnt rubber, the rush of adrenaline – it was the only thing that could numb the pain, even for a moment. I used to come here with Blake, back when we were just kids with nothing but ambition and each other.

Tonight, I was alone.

"Well, well, if it isn't Eleanor Fisher," a sneering voice cut through the din. Brock Hawkins, recovered from Blake' s attack, stood before me, flanked by his goons. "Lost your little dog, have we? And your pretty boy? Shame."

My jaw tightened. "Get lost, Brock. Tonight's not the night."

He laughed, a harsh, grating sound. "Oh, but it is. Heard you're down on your luck. How about a little wager? A race. If you win, I walk away. If I win... you give me a night at your best club, free rein. And you publicly apologize to Hayleigh."

My blood boiled. The club. My dream. My legacy. And Hayleigh. "What makes you think I'll race you?"

"Because you're a fool, Eleanor. And you're desperate. Just like your ex. He always was a sucker for a pretty face. Especially a helpless one." He smirked. "Speaking of helpless, I heard you tried to run Hayleigh off the road the other day. Some hero, you are."

My hand instinctively went to the scar on my stomach, a phantom ache. A baby, Eleanor. We could never have one. That knowledge, that deep, personal wound, was something only Blake knew. And Hayleigh, it seemed, was now using it against me.

"Fine," I said, my voice dangerously low. "But if I win, you never show your face in my places again. And you leave Hayleigh out of your mouth."

Brock's eyes gleamed. "Deal. But you' ll be driving a borrowed car. And it' s a death race, Eleanor. No rules."

I just nodded, walking towards the rusty old muscle car they pointed me to. A suicide mission. Maybe that's what I wanted.

The engine rumbled, a beast awakening. I strapped myself in, the familiar scent of leather and gasoline filling my lungs. The starting gun fired. I pushed the pedal to the floor, the world blurring around me. Then, a shudder. The brakes. They weren't responding. Someone had tampered with my car. Brock. Of course.

A sharp curve approached, leading straight to the jagged rocks of the Miami coastline. I gripped the wheel, my knuckles white. This was it.

Just then, a black SUV roared past me, cutting me off, forcing my car to spin, away from the cliff edge. It slammed into the side railing, jolting me violently. My head hit the steering wheel, and darkness swirled at the edges of my vision.

When my eyes refocus, Blake was standing by my car, his face grim. "Eleanor, are you insane?" he yelled, pulling me out.

Brock and his men were already there, shouting. "Blake! What the hell? You saving her now?"

Blake ignored them, his focus entirely on me. He grabbed my shoulders, shaking me. "What were you thinking? You could have died!"

"And what do you care?" I spat, the words a bitter venom. "You already watched me fall once."

He flinched, then his eyes hardened. He turned to Brock, a silent, deadly promise in his gaze. He walked over to Brock' s car, ripped off the door, and then started dismantling the engine with his bare hands, a terrifying display of strength. Brock's men tried to intervene, but Blake moved like a phantom, leaving them sprawled on the ground, groaning.

"Blake, stop!" Hayleigh's voice, small and whiny, cut through the tension. She appeared from nowhere, running towards him. "They just wanted to teach her a lesson! Don't hurt them!"

Blake paused, his eyes still burning with a dangerous fire. He looked at Hayleigh, then back at me. His face softened. "Go back to the car, Hayleigh. I'll handle this."

"You see, Eleanor?" Brock coughed, pushing himself up, blood trickling from his lip. "He protects her. Always. And you? You're just a broken toy he threw away."

His words hit me harder than any punch. I looked at Blake, then at Hayleigh, who was now clinging to his arm, looking up at him with wide, innocent eyes. The lie. The performance. It was all there. I noticed a small, silver bracelet on her wrist. It was my birthday gift to Blake, years ago. A symbol of our shared dreams. Now it was hers.

"He saved you, Eleanor," Hayleigh said, her voice dripping with feigned concern. "You should thank him."

My laugh was raw, humorless. "Thank him? For what? Protecting his new prize? For proving what a fool I was?"

Blake stepped forward. "Eleanor, this isn't what it looks like. She was scared. I was just-"

"You were just what, Blake?" I interrupted, my voice shaking with a pain so deep it felt physical. "Just making sure your innocent little art student didn't get her pretty hands dirty? Just making sure your real feelings for me were clear? Don't bother. You've made them crystal clear."

I turned away from him, from both of them. My hands trembled, but I wouldn't let him see it. The anger, the hurt, the sheer exhaustion of it all threatened to consume me. He had chosen her. And he was still choosing her, even after seeing how close I came to death.

My eyes narrowed at the bracelet on Hayleigh' s wrist. It was a replica of Blake' s, a gift for his birthday, a reminder of our shared journey. He' d told me it was special because I was the only one who truly understood him. Now, she wore it. Just another trophy. Another lie.

"I don't need your explanations, Blake," I said, my voice barely a whisper, but laced with a steel I didn't know I possessed. "And I certainly don't need your protection. Not anymore."