CHAPTER 7

ALICIA

“Mum, we're going to be late!” Kai yelled from the staircase and I sighed, pulling my blazer over my chest. Glancing at the mirror again, the weight of my decision came crashing back on me with full force, my throat suddenly dry and itchy.

“I'll be right down, honey!” I returned, pulling my bag strap over my shoulder.

If I was going to make a comeback, it was going to be in a grand style, one I made sure they wouldn't forget in a hurry.

This wasn't the Alicia Grey they accused of murder years ago, I was a successful Medical Genius and mother of a beautiful set of twins.

I was more than happy and I was going to make sure they saw it as well.

“Dr. Alicia?” I raised my head from the documents in my hands, scanning the room for where I had heard my voice.

“This way, please.” The young receptionist called out to me and I followed behind slowly.

“They're behind this door, they are already seated, waiting for you.” She added, gesturing for me to go through the door in front of me.

“Thank you.” I nodded, flashing her a small smile with my hand hovering over the doorknob as she walked away.

A silent breath escaped my lips, the trembling of my lips betraying my feigned show of confidence.

My entire past was behind that door.

A door I could easily walk away from, but that wasn't the justice the me six years ago deserved.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and pushed the door open.

“Oh, Dr. Alicia, great for you to join us.” A voice that belonged to the company attorney said in relief, gesturing for me to take a seat beside her.

My breath caught in my throat as my heels clicked against the floor on my way to my seat.

Scanning through the individuals present, I felt a mix of relief and disappointment run through me.

“That would be all.” The attorney said, pushing her glasses in as she cleared her throat.

“From the explanations, do you have anything to add or any comments?” She asked, her voice holding a faint sense of urgency in it.

“No, I understand all the terms you explained.” I smiled, readjusting in my seat.

The attorney gave me a small nod and slid the stack of documents across the table until they were sitting right in front of me. She reached out and flipped through the pages with ease, her fingers landing on the final page where a series of blank lines waited for my signature to seal the deal.

I reached into my bag and pulled out my pen, my fingers trembling just a little bit as I uncapped it and leaned forward to press the tip against the paper. I was so close to starting this game for real, but just as the ink was about to touch the page, the attorney reached out and placed her hand over mine to stop me.

“Wait just a moment, Dr. Alicia,” she said, her voice soft but firm as she looked at the door and then back at me. “There is one more person who needs to be present for the finalization of this contract, an executive personnel who oversees this specific branch of the project, and we cannot officially sign off until he is in the room.”

I pulled my hand back and felt a wave of confusion wash over me, my heart starting to thud against my ribs with a pattern that felt like a warning. I opened my mouth to ask who exactly we were waiting for, but before I could get a single word out, the doors at the back of the room burst open with a bang that echoed.

I didn't even have to look up to know who it was, the air in the room seemed to turn cold and thin.

I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up as a familiar shadow fell over the table. I forced myself to raise my head, my eyes traveling up a figure until they landed on the face that had haunted every single one of my nightmares for the last six years.

Killian walked into the room with a sense of power as he moved towards the head of the table without saying a word to anyone.

I stared at him, my breath hitching in my chest as I waited for the moment his eyes would land on me and the mask of his calm would shatter into a thousand pieces. I expected shock, or maybe a flicker of guilt, or even the same burning hatred that had been in his eyes the day he watched them lead me away in handcuffs.

I gripped the edge of the table so hard my knuckles turned white, my heart screaming at me to run or to scream or to do something, but I stayed frozen in my seat as he finally turned his head to look at me. Our eyes met for what felt like an eternity, and I held my breath, waiting for the recognition to hit him, but there was nothing.

His expression remained as cold and as hard as stone, his dark eyes scanning my face with the same detached interest he might show towards a piece of office furniture or a boring report. He didn't blink, didn't flinch, and he certainly didn't look like a man seeing the woman whose life he had destroyed.

“This is our new lead consultant, Dr. Alicia Grey,” the attorney said, her voice breaking the suffocating silence as she gestured towards me. Killian didn't even nod, he just pulled out the chair at the head of the table and sat down, his movements smooth.

“I am aware,” he said, his voice exactly how I remembered it but there was no emotion in it at all.

It was like I was a total stranger to him, like the years we spent together and the way he had ruined me meant absolutely nothing, and for a second, the coldness of it made me feel like I was disappearing. I felt a surge of hot anger bubbling up in my throat, but I forced myself to look down at the paper, my hand shaking as I finally pressed the pen down and scribbled my name across the line.

The attorney took the paper back and passed it to Killian, who signed his own name with a quick flick of his wrist before sliding the folder back to the middle of the table.

“Everything seems to be in order,” he said to the room at large, his gaze never returning to mine as he stood back up and adjusted the cuffs of his shirt.

The meeting was over just like that, and I felt a sense of relief wash over me as I stood up and grabbed my copy of the document, hugging it to my chest. I wanted to get out of there before I lost my composure, so I turned on my heel and walked towards the door as fast as I could without actually running.

As my heels clicked loudly against the floor, I could feel the eyes of everyone in the room on my back, but I didn't stop until I was out in the hallway and the door was shut behind me.

I leaned against the cool plaster of the wall and took a deep shaky breath, trying to calm the ringing in my ears and the shaking in my legs. I had done it, I was officially part of the team, and I had looked the devil in the eye without falling apart.

I started to walk towards the elevators, my mind already racing with plans and strategies, when I heard a voice call out from behind me. “Alicia.” The sound of my name in that specific voice made me stop dead in my tracks, and I felt a shiver run down my spine that had nothing to do with the air conditioning.

I turned around slowly, my heart leaping into my throat because I thought that maybe, just maybe, now that we were alone, the act would drop and he would show me something—anything—that proved he remembered.

Killian was standing a few feet away, his hands buried deep in his pockets and his face still carved out of stone. I searched his features for a sign of a struggle, a hint of regret, or even a spark of the old fire we used to share, but his eyes were empty.

He looked at me for a long beat, and I felt myself leaning in, waiting for the apology or the accusation or the explanation I had been rehearsing in my head for years. He took a step towards me, and for a split second, I thought I saw his jaw tighten, but then he just gave me a formal nod that felt like a slap in the face.

“Welcome to the team, Doctor,” he said, his voice flat and professional with his gaze burning a hole into mine.