CHAPTER ONE: HIS GOODBYE, MY RUIN

(Elena’s Pov)

"Tell me it's a joke."

Lana didn't even close the door. She barged into my apartment waving her phone like a flag.

"Come on, you know I can't joke with something like that. It's everywhere Elena! Xavier Carrington is getting married next weekend. "

"What?" My voice came out as a whisper.

She held her phone's screen up for me to see. The headline screamed: Xavier Carrington Engaged to Real Estate Princess. Xavier's arms were looped around a flawless blonde in a red gown, his smile easy, practiced, familiar.

"That...has to be some PR stunt," I said in disbelief.

"Why is it so hard for you to believe? Or was he going to marry you instead?" she said jokingly. But only I knew the truth. He told me I made it easy for him.

"Elena, it's on every outlet. The engagement party is tonight. His fiancée is the daughter of the owner of the Brookline corporation. They're managing companies or something."

My throat tightened and my mouth went dry. "He can't possibly be getting married, he doesn't believe in marriage."

"Well, apparently, he believes in mergers." Lana was unaware of the turmoil that was going on in my rapidly beating heart. I couldn’t hold it anymore. I snatched from the couch.

"Elena, where are-"

"He's our boss, I want to go ask him myself."

"Elena, don't!"

But I was already gone. The Carrington building rose over Manhattan, sharp and gleaming like a shard of glass. I'd walked through those doors a thousand times, but never like this – my heart slamming against my ribs, my breath catching with every step.

The elevator lights blinked upward: 12, 13, 14, each one a countdown. When the elevator doors slid open to the executive floor, the air shifted – cooler, quieter, steeped in the scent of wealth and restraint.

The door to the office stood half-open. I didn’t knock.

"Xavier, " I said, as I pushed through.

He lifted his eyes from behind his desk. His tie was loosened around his neck, sleeves rolled, the picture of calm professionalism. My storm meant nothing here.

"Elena," he said slowly, like he'd seen this coming. "You aren't supposed to be here."

“Really?” I chuckled dryly. “Cause the last time I remember, you said I could visit you whenever I wanted.”

He flinched barely enough for me to notice. "I need to talk to you."

"That’s my line." I slammed the door behind me. "Tell me it isn't real."

He exhaled heavily through his nose, walked to the minibar, and poured himself a drink.

"Elena...it's real."

My stomach twisted into tight knots. Breathing became a myth of some sort and I wanted to cry. Heave knows where I got the strength to not do so.

"So, when were you going to tell me? The eight months we spent meant nothing to you? I was just a practice before the main show?"

"You know how my father can be, Elena. He found out about us. He was mad and I didn’t know what to do to calm him down. I couldn’t say no to him. I'm sorry it's true, but I can't risk everything for you. This marriage is for business not love. "

"Your father?" I laughed, but it came out wrong – too sharp, too broken. "We've planned our lives, Xavier."

"I made a promise I shouldn’t have made."

The silence grew with every breath except for the faint clink of ice in his glass. His eyes that I one thought were the loveliest pairs of eyes I had ever seen now looked cold and distant. This was not the man I knew. This was not the man I was in love with.

"That’s unbelievable. " I took a step back. "You said you loved me," I whispered.

He exhaled again but this time, impatiently. "I said a lot of things to keep you quiet and happy. You took it personally. "

Something inside me ripped open. My hands trembled now, but I couldn't care less. His statement was like a slap to me.

"Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know that when the person you’ve been dating for almost a year tells you that they loved you and cared for you, that I wasn’t supposed to take it seriously. That it was just something people said to make the other keep quiet and feel happy.” Being in here with him like this, hearing him say all this nonsense was increasing my anger. I shouldn’t react rashly. I shouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me break down.

He straightened up, his voice low. "You were just a basket decision I made."

That was it. I couldn’t be there anymore. I needed to cry, scream, let out my anger and frustration somehow, and I needed to do it where he couldn’t see me.

He gave that sweet, arrogant familiar smirk that I used to love. "I never regret any decision I make apart from...you." He was trying to hurt me and it was working so damn well. I never imagined the day would come when I’d despise Xavier like this.

When he noticed I wasn't going to move, he walked to the door and opened it. "The door is open. You can see yourself out."

I stood there for another second, trying to picture his face, hoping I'd find some compassion left in it. There wasn't. Just a stranger wearing the same smile that once gave me butterflies.

"Was any part of it real for you?" I asked quietly.

He hesitated just long enough for me to finally give up.

"No." He closed the door behind me and came back to his desk. "Elena, please. Let's not make this harder." He opened a drawer and pulled out a Manila folder, sliding it toward me. "Sign this."

I stared at it. "What's this?”

" A nondisclosure agreement. It keeps everything quiet. You're going to keep your job."

My vision blurred. "You're despicable. You're firing me if I don't sign?"

"I'm offering you a very good choice." His tone stayed maddeningly calm. "You know how my father handles scandals."

My pulse roared in my ears. "You're unbelievable. "

"Elena-"

"No, you don't have the right to say my name." I shoved the folder back. "You don't get to erase me like I was an error."

His jaw clenched. "Look, I'm sorry. I couldn’t abandon everything for you. You knew it all along."

"I thought I did,” I whispered, realising that the person I thought I knew was not in any way the prince charming he portrayed himself to be.

He looked almost bored now, like he was closing a business deal. "If you want to keep seeing me, we can work something out. Quietly "

I blinked in utter disbelief. "Are you saying that I should be your side chick?"

His silence said yes.

I laughed, once, bitter, trembling with anger. "God, you're pathetic. "

"Elena, careful-"

“Thank you so much for showing me who you really are.”

The tears were on the verge of dropping out of my eyes now. Xavier sighed like he was about to say something, but his words were interrupted by the beeping of my phone.

It was a message from the hospital. They needed me there ASAP.

I blinked back the tears and spun around without a second glance at Xavier. Now wasn’t the time to be crying over a man when my father was on the verge of dying.

The hallway felt like a slap-blindingly bright, unbearably cold. The glossy floor threw the light back at me, sharp and unforgiving. People passed by, their curious eyes brushing against my Shane like papercuts.

I was dialling my mom’s number when someone stepped right into my path. We collided hard, the phone slipping from my hand, my head recoiling so hard it was a miracle it didn’t snap off my neck. I felt the hands of someone sliding around my waist to keep me from descending to the floors.

"Hey...careful."

The voice sounded familiar, yet strange. I looked up slowly to face the man in front of me. Nothing could have prepared me for the image before me.

Tall, dark hair pushed back carelessly, shirt sleeves rolled. Piercing grey eyes stared down at me with an unbothered face.

My eyes widened as recognition hit me and with the lazy smile he gave me, I’m assuming he recognized me to.

“Well, well, well,” he cooed. “If it isn’t my runaway bride.”