Chapter 9

Alex didn't look up. He didn't respond.

Maya. Maya. Maya.

Her name was a frantic drumbeat in his head.

Eleanor Sterling clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"Honestly, Alexander, this infatuation was becoming tiresome. She's hardly suitable. No family, no connections. An art student, for heaven's sake."

Eleanor's internal monologue was one of relief. With the girl gone, Alex could finally focus on the Van derbilt merger, on securing their family's future.

Victoria was a much more appropriate match.

"It's for the best she's gone," Eleanor continued, her voice brisk. "Probably realized she was out of her depth. Good riddance. Now you can focus on Tori and the wedding."

Alex's head snapped up.

His eyes were wild, his face pale.

"She wouldn't leave me. Not Maya."

His voice was a raw whisper.

Eleanor raised an eyebrow. "Don't be dramatic, Alexander. Of course, she left. I made sure of it."

Alex stared at her, uncomprehending.

"What... what are you talking about?"

Eleanor sighed, as if explaining something to a particularly slow child.

"I offered her money, dear. A substantial sum. Five million. To leave the country and stay out of your life."

Alex felt the blood drain from his face.

"She... she took it?" he whispered, the words catching in his throat.

Eleanor smiled faintly. "Of course, she did. What did you expect? She's a practical girl, from a practical background. Five million is a fortune to someone like her."

She saw the devastation on his face and softened her tone, slightly.

"It's better this way, Alex. She was a distraction. A gold-digger."

"No!" Alex lurched to his feet, his eyes blazing. "Maya isn't like that! She wouldn't... she loved me!"

He was trembling, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

The room seemed to tilt.

"She wouldn't take your money! She wouldn't leave me!"

He grabbed his mother's arms, his grip bruising. "Tell me you're lying! Tell me!"

Eleanor pulled away, her expression hardening.

"Don't be a fool, Alexander. She took the check and was probably halfway to the airport before it even cleared. She played you, and you fell for it."

She smoothed her dress, her composure regained.

"Frankly, I'm surprised it took her this long."

Alex stumbled back, his face ashen.

He fumbled for his phone, his fingers clumsy.

He scrolled to Maya's number, his heart hammering against his ribs.

He pressed call.

It rang once, twice, then went to a curt, automated message.

"The number you have dialed is not in service. Please check the number and try again."

Not in service.

He tried again. Same message.

Blocked. Or disconnected.

She was gone.

She had taken the money.

She had left him.

The realization hit him with the force of a physical blow.

He sank to his knees, a choked sob escaping his lips.

The vast, opulent penthouse felt like a tomb.

He sat there for a long time, the silence pressing in on him.

He thought he heard her voice, her soft laughter, a whisper in the empty rooms.

"Alex?"

He looked up, his eyes wild with a desperate hope.

But there was no one there.

Only the ghosts of a love he had destroyed.