Chapter 8 Don't Walk Away

11:42 AM - Cade Penthouse

Amara zipped the last section of her suitcase with trembling hands. She wasn't going to cry. Not here. Not in his space.

The penthouse-once a playground of professional dreams-now felt like a beautifully designed trap.

Sebastian Cade had hired her to break her.

And it had almost worked.

But not quite.

She pulled her shawl over her shoulders, grabbed the suitcase handle, and opened the door to the private elevator.

"Leaving so soon?" came the familiar, velvet-deep voice from behind.

She froze.

Turned.

Sebastian stood by the hallway arch, arms folded, tension radiating from every inch of him.

"You don't get to act surprised," she said, voice sharp.

His eyes darkened. "You found out something that's been buried for over a decade. I didn't expect you to just...smile through it."

"I'm not smiling. I'm surviving."

He took a step closer. "So that's it? You're just going to disappear?"

"What would you prefer, Sebastian? That I stay and let you keep playing puppet master with my life? You used me."

"No," he snapped. "I brought you here because I wanted revenge. What I didn't expect was you."

That stopped her cold.

She met his eyes. "Then why not stop? Why not tell me from the beginning?"

"Because I didn't think I was capable of wanting something more than payback."

He was in front of her now. Too close. Too raw.

"You think I haven't been battling with this every day since you arrived?" His voice was hoarse now. "You think I haven't seen the way you laugh, or how you look at buildings like you see their souls, or how you cry when you think no one's watching? You're not just a pawn anymore, Amara."

She blinked, stunned.

Her voice broke. "Then why didn't you stop when you realized that?"

"Because I'm scared," he admitted. "Because you make me forget why I started this."

Silence stretched between them.

Then she whispered, "And what if I can't forget that you started it?"

He exhaled. Slowly. Carefully. "Then I'll spend every day trying to be someone who deserves forgiveness."

Her hand tightened around the suitcase.

But she didn't move.

He took another step. "Stay. Not because I'm asking you to. But because you feel something too."

She looked up at him-eyes stormy, voice shaking. "I hate that I do."

He didn't touch her. He didn't try to pull her in.

He just whispered, "So do I."

Later That Night - Guest Room

Her suitcase stayed by the door.

Untouched.

Unpacked.

Because even though nothing was fixed, and the past still hung in the air like smoke...

She wasn't ready to walk away just yet.

Not when his voice still echoed in her mind.

"You're not just a pawn anymore."

Cade's Journal – Confidential Entry

She's not like the others.

She didn't scream. She didn't threaten. She just looked at me like I was someone worth saving.

That's the part that's messing me up the most.

I told myself I'd break her. Now I'm not sure I can survive her leaving.