Chapter 7: Six Years Later

The rain had eased into a fine drizzle by the time Alexander's Bentley turned into the circular driveway of the Grand Virelli Hotel.

A porter hurried toward the car with an umbrella, but Alexander was already out before the young man reached him.

Nathan met them halfway across the lobby.

His usually composed face carried a tension Regina had never seen before.

"I've secured the entire eleventh floor," he said, falling into step beside Alexander. "No guests are allowed near the suite until we're done."

Alexander nodded once.

"The reservation?"

"Paid in cash. The identification used to book the room doesn't exist."

"And the cameras?"

"Hacked for seven minutes."

Alexander didn't respond.

He simply kept walking.

The lobby buzzed with quiet conversations and the clink of crystal glasses. A wedding reception had just ended in one of the ballrooms, and elegantly dressed guests drifted toward the exits, laughing as they gathered their coats.

Regina watched them for a moment.

It was strange how life could continue so normally for everyone else while hers felt as though it had tilted off its axis.

The elevator doors opened and the three of them stepped inside. Nathan pressed the button for the eleventh floor and at the same time no one spoke.

The numbers climbed steadily until the doors slid open again.

Two members of hotel security stood waiting outside Suite 1107.

Nathan unlocked the door.

"This was exactly how housekeeping found it."

Alexander entered first.

The suite looked untouched.

The curtains were open, revealing the city lights shimmering beneath the rain.

Two coffee cups sat on the small dining table. One had been used while the other hadn't.

Regina noticed Alexander stop beside them. His gaze lingered on the empty chair opposite the used cup.

"What is it?" she asked quietly.

Instead of answering, he picked up the menu lying on the table.

It had been folded neatly to one page.

Nathan glanced at it.

"Is something wrong?"

Alexander turned the menu toward them.

A faint circle had been drawn around one item.

Cinnamon Cappuccino.

Nathan looked confused. "It's just coffee."

Alexander gave a slight shake of his head. "No."

His voice was calm, but distant.

"Rosalie hated cinnamon."

Regina looked from the menu to the untouched cup. "Maybe it wasn't her."

"Maybe."

Alexander set the menu down.

"But if someone wanted me to believe she was here, they chose the one thing she would never order."

Nathan frowned. "So whoever arranged this knows both of you."

Alexander didn't answer because Nathan was right and this wasn't random. Someone knew details only a handful of people should have known. A knock interrupted the silence.

One of the security officers stepped inside.

"Sir, we found the waitress who served this room."

"Bring her in."

A young woman in a hotel uniform entered nervously, wringing her hands.

"I'm sorry if I've done something wrong."

"You haven't," Alexander said. "I only need you to answer a few questions."

She nodded quickly.

"The woman who booked this suite," he began. "Did you see her face?"

"Not clearly."

"Why not?"

"She kept her hat low."

"Was she alone?"

The waitress hesitated. "When I first came in... yes."

"And later?"

"I wasn't sure."

Nathan looked up.

"What do you mean?"

The waitress swallowed. "I came back because she'd forgotten to sign the bill."

She looked between them. "When I knocked... I heard her talking to someone."

Regina frowned. "A man?"

"I don't know."

"I only heard one sentence before everything went quiet."

Alexander's eyes remained fixed on her.

"What sentence?"

The waitress thought for a moment.

Then repeated it exactly as she'd heard it.

> "No... he still blames himself."

The room fell silent.

Regina looked at Alexander.

His expression hadn't changed.

But she noticed his shoulders stiffen ever so slightly.

The waitress shifted uneasily. "Is... is that important?"

Alexander looked at her with a faint, polite smile. "It might be."

She was thanked and escorted out.

Nathan closed the door behind her.

"So..." He folded his arms.

"What's our next move?"

Alexander walked to the window, looking out over the rain-soaked city. For several moments, he said nothing. Then he spoke without turning around.

"We stop chasing someone who wants to be chased."

Nathan frowned. "What do you mean?"

"If Rosalie wanted me to find her..."

He looked at the reflection of the city in the glass.

"...she wouldn't have left before I arrived."

He slipped both hands into his pockets. "Someone is controlling this meeting."

Regina watched him quietly.

For the first time that night, she realized Alexander wasn't thinking like a man searching for his first love. He was thinking like the CEO who had built an empire by refusing to walk into traps. As they left the suite, Regina slowed for just a moment, glancing back at the two coffee cups still sitting on the table.

One full. One empty.

Somehow, they felt like a picture of her marriage. One person had been waiting. The other had arrived too late.

She closed the door gently behind her and followed Alexander to the elevator.

For the first time since asking him for a divorce, she wasn't wondering whether she had made the right decision.

She was wondering whether either of them truly knew the story they had been living.