Chapter 8
My words cut through him like a blade, slicing open the parts of himself he’d tried so hard to conceal–even from his own heart.
Jared’s face went shock–white, his whole body swaying, barely able to stand.
He opened his mouth, desperate to explain, to insist that it was me he’d always loved, from the very beginning to the bitter end.
But when the moment came, not a single word would come out.
He looked at the woman in front of him.
The features were familiar, but she was no longer the woman he remembered.
Her eyes were calm and deep, carrying a distance–a strength–that came from having seen through the world and survived it.
That strength came from her own world, her own achievements, no longer tied to him in the slightest.
Realizing that hurt him more than her disappearance ever could.
“I…” He forced out a single syllable, his voice raw and cracked. “I just… I can’t live without you…”
“Jared.” I shook my head gently, my tone steady and even. “Your world is vast–you have the Hurlow Group, your ambitions. Without me,
everything keeps turning.
“My world used to be so small–it was only you. But now, it’s grown. I have my designs, my career, my own universe of stars and dreams.”
288 Vouchers
Chapter 8
I set the magazine down and walked to the towering windows, gazing at the glass where our blurred reflections hovered side by side.
“We loved each other.
“Those five years were real. I gave everything, and I have no regrets. But somewhere along the way, you chose a different path.
“Your obsession never trapped me–it only ever trapped you.
“Let go.
“Set yourself free. And… let go of the Amelia who no longer exists.”
The office fell into a suffocating silence, broken only by Jared’s heavy, ragged breaths.
He stared at me, eyes rimmed red, tears slipping down his cheeks in utter silence.
Inside them was pain, regret, and a kind of final, hopeless emptiness.
“Amy…” he choked out, his voice breaking. “Is there really… not even the slightest chance?”
I turned around, and for the last time, looked at the man I had once loved with everything I had–the same man who had hurt me the most.
“Jared, goodbye.”
My voice was soft, but it carried the weight of finality.
This time, there was no chaos, no screaming.
Only endless, echoing silence.
And in the center of that office, the man who finally collapsed to his knees, sobbing uncontrollably.
Chapter 8
And on the desk, the magazine where Aurelia smiled back–radiant, confident, and free.
