Chapter 4 - August

Then silence after I knocked stretched painfully long. Then, a second later, the door creaked open.

I froze.

There she was, Genesis Michaelson, the very woman I’d spent over twenty-four hours trying to find, while finding out things about her I never thought off.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

She looked… different.

Not the composed, perfectly put-together assistant I remembered.

Her hair wasn’t neatly styled, greasy with strands falling all over her small face, her eyes tired from lack of sleep.

Her clothes were simple, worn even.

But it was still her.

Unmistakably.

Those gray eyes.

The same ones that had held my attention longer than they should have, even back then.

Her gaze met mine.

Shock flickered.

Then it disappeared.

Replaced by something colder.

“Why are you here?” she asked quietly.

Her voice was unsteady.

I let my gaze move over her slowly, taking everything in.

“You disappeared,” I said.

“I was fired.”

“I didn’t-”

“You would have,” she replied, the certainty in her voice caught me off guard. “It was only a matter of time.”

Interesting.

“Why?” I asked, my tone lowering.

Her lips pressed into a thin line.

“Does it matter at this point, why are you here sir?”

Silence stretched between us.

Tense.

Heavy.

I stepped forward.

Instinctively, she stepped back.

Not much.

But enough.

And I noticed.

“You ran,” I said quietly. “Like you were hiding something.”

Her gaze hardened. “Hiding what?”

“I don’t work for you anymore,” she added. “I don’t owe you any explanations.”

Her words should have ended the conversation, which I was sure she wanted.

They didn’t.

“Oh, but you owe me one.”

That made her laugh.

Short. Humorless.

“Owe you?” she repeated. “For what, exactly?”

“For this.”

I pulled out my phone and turned the screen toward her.

The marriage record.

Her expression changed instantly.

Her eyes widened.

“This…” she stammered. “This has to be a mistake. It can’t be.”

She said, even though she sounded very unsure.

“But it is.”

For a moment, she just stared at the screen.

Then at me.

Then back again.

Her expression mirrored mine the first time I heard of this.

“I take it you didn’t know,” I said.

She shook her head slowly.

“No…”

Silence.

Then she straightened.

Control returning.

“I’ll make it easy for you,” she said. “Let’s annul it or whatever.”

Her gaze met mine firm, distant.

“I don’t want anything to do with you, you obviously want the same.” She said all in a breath and I should have been relieved but somehow I got angry.

Something about how easily she said it irritated me more than it should have.

“You don't know what I want.” I said before I could stop myself.

"What else will the heir of Thorne Automotive Group be doing on this side of town. I’m not a child, the sooner we get this over and done with the quicklier we can both get back to our lives” She exhaled before continuing.

“I can imagine you have better things to-” She stopped as a woman stumbled towards us. Trying to avoid the drunk woman in the narrow hallway, I stumbled forward instead. Genesis staggered backward trying to avoid me but tripped.

My hand moved fast, catching her by the waist.

For a moment, time stopped. Her breath fanned against my skin, mine against hers. Our lips only inches apart and new memories from that night flooded my head, all fragments though.

“Get a room, losers,” the drunk lady said, breaking us apart immediately. She laughed and walked past us.

“Genesis, I-” I started but stopped when John appeared in the corner of my eyes.

“Sir sorry to interrupt whatever’s going on but we need to leave now if we are going to the court house.” I nodded and looked towards Genesis.

“I’ll meet you there,” She said, turning toward her door but stopped when John cleared his throat.

“Sorry miss, I have strict orders from the family to bring you and Mr August along.” She was about to protest when I cut in.

“We’ll be down in a second, John.” I said calmly as he reluctantly nodded and excused us.

I turned to her, “I’ll be waiting in the car.” I said walking away immediately before she could protest.

Back in the car I couldn't get her out of mind, how she looked tired, nothing like the girl from 3 months ago.

Then I remembered the conversation John and I had earlier during the drive here.

Flashback

“So what else did you find, John?” I asked as he stepped into my office that morning. He handed me the file without hesitation. “According to her employment records, this is her registered address.”

I scanned it briefly.

“And?”

“She was evicted a few weeks ago,” he continued. “Left in the middle of the night, so no one knew where she moved to. The neighbour that gave us her current address ran into her a couple of days later.”

My grip tightened slightly on the file.

I exhaled slowly, irritation creeping in as I noticed most parts of the file were empty.

John must have noticed my expression as he added.

“She has no relatives listed,” John added. “No emergency contacts. No close associates we can trace.”

A ghost.

“How is that even possible?” I muttered. “She worked under me for over a year.”

John remained silent.

“Her school?” I asked.

“She didn't go to a school around here,” he replied. “But I’ve already sent people to follow up. We’re waiting on a response.”

I nodded once. “What else?”

“Not much,” he admitted. “She has almost no digital footprint. No social activity. No online presence.”

That didn’t sit right.

I leaned back slightly, considering.

“Her finances?”

“I checked,” he said, pulling out another document. He turned the page toward me.

My eyes moved across the figures.

Thousands in debt.

My brows furrowed.

“Student loans and mortgage.” John said before I could ask.

That explained part of it.

But not all.

“There’s something else,” he added.

I looked up.

“She’s been making regular payments to an orphanage. Every month.”

I frowned. “How much?”

“Roughly three quarters of her salary.”

That made me pause.

“For how long?”

“Since she started working for you.”

Interesting.

“I’ve already sent men to check the place,” John continued. “It could be where she grew up.”

“Possibly. Though there’s no official record linking her to the orphanage aside from the monthly payments, which stopped nearly three months ago.”

Matching the last time I saw her. Nothing about her was adding up.

“Follow up with the school,” I said. “And go to the orphanage if you have to.”

John nodded.

“And John…”

He stopped.

“Whatever you find stays between us, I don’t want my family finding out” I said, slightly worried.

Guilt crept in unexpectedly.

When she was replaced a few days after Vegas, I should have tried to find out why.

“Sir, if you don’t mind me asking, why are you going through lengths to find out about her?” He asked concerned and I also wondered the same.

Why did I suddenly care about her…

Why now?