The City I Tried to Forget

Chapter 7. 

Rita’s pov

The moment the plane landed my chest felt tight.New York.

After five years it still felt the same. It was cold.It was heavy.It was unforgiving.

I sat still for a moment after everyone else got up, my fingers holding the armrest as if the plane could keep me in place. I told myself I could do this. I said it in my head like I meant it. I had to do this.

I did not have a choice anymore. “ Rita” Ethan called .

I looked up to see him watching me carefully with that look I knew too well.

"We have landed, " he said softly."I know, " I replied, forcing a smile. He did not push me to talk.He never did when he knew I was not ready.

He stepped aside. Let me go first. I stood up. Took one step then another. Each step felt heavier than the last. The air outside the airport felt different.

It was sharp and familiar in a way I did not want it to be. I put on my sunglasses not because I needed to. Because I wanted to hide my eyes from the memories that were coming back.

Cars were moving fast. People were walking quickly. The city was moving in the rhythm it always had. Nothing had changed. Except me.

 “The car is waiting for us” Ethan said,

I got in the seat without saying a word.

As the car moved I looked out the window.

That was a mistake. Every street felt like a memory.

Every building reminded me of something I tried to forget. I saw the café where I used to get coffee before work.

I saw the intersection where Victor used to wait for me back when things were simple.

Back when I believed in him. I looked away quickly, my jaw tight.

Do not go there, I told myself. Not now. Not ever. Ethan said I would be fine. I did not look at him. "I did not say I would not be " I said. "You did not have to " he replied. That made me turned to look at him. He was watching me again trying to understand something I was not ready to explain.

“I said I am here for work, nothing else.

Ethan looked at me for a second before nodding. I could tell he did not entirely believe me.

Honestly I was not sure I believed myself either. The hotel was what I expected. It was elegant, expensive and impersonal.

What I liked. No memories attached. No ghosts waiting around corners.

 “ The meeting would start in the morning” 

Ethan said. 

That night was for resting. Good I thought.

I needed time. Time to breathe. Time to prepare. Time to remind myself that I was not the woman who left this city broken and hurt. I was stronger now. I had to be.

The morning I did not feel like I had slept.

Every time I closed my eyes I saw pieces of the past.His voice. His face. The way he looked at her. The way he did not look at me.By morning I was tired. I pushed it aside.

I did not have room for weakness that day.

The Vale Group building was tall and imposing and unchanged. I got out of the car slowly looking up at the building.

This place so much of my life had. Ended here. Ethan asked if I was ready.

No, I thought. I said yes anyway. We walked inside together.

Every step felt loud. The lobby was grand just like I remembered. Polished floors, ceilings, people moving with purpose.

Some faces looked familiar. Some of them looked at me. Some did not recognize me at all. That was good. I preferred it that way.

We went to the reception desk Ethan handled the formalities. I kept my focus straight ahead. Professional, detached, untouchable that was what I needed to be.

The receptionist said the conference room was on the first floor. The floor I thought.

That floor held many memories. Many moments I wished I could erase.

The elevator ride up felt long and silent and heavy. By the time the doors opened my heart was beating fast. Ethan said after you and I stepped out. Calm, controlled prepared that was what I thought I was.

Least I tried to be.

We turned the corner. Then I stopped. My breath. Everything inside me went still.

Because standing a few steps ahead was Victor Vale. He was facing away talking to someone, his posture as composed and commanding ever.

Five years and nothing about him had changed. He was still tall, sharp , and still dangerous. As if he sensed something he paused mid-sentence.

Slowly he turned. Our eyes. The world fell silent. My heart slammed against my chest, betraying every ounce of control I had built.

No, I thought. Not like this, not now.

It was too late. Because he was already looking at me. Really looking at me like he could not quite believe what he was seeing. Like I was something pulled out of a memory he was not ready to face.

He said my name quietly, almost uncertain. That one word shattered the distance I had tried so hard to create. I forced myself to breathe, forced my expression into something cold untouched.

"Mr. Vale " I said calmly, my voice steady in a way I did not feel. There was a flicker of something in his eyes, shock, disbelief, something that I refused to name.

"You are here " he said, like the words did not quite make sense to him. "Yes, " I replied simply. "I am here for work."

There was silence between us, uncomfortable charged with everything we were not saying. I could feel Ethan step closer beside me. "I believe you already know Ms. Rita, " he said smoothly.

"She will be leading part of the negotiation from our side." Victor's gaze did not leave mine, not for a second.

" Course " he murmured, but his voice had changed, lower rougher, like something inside him had shifted. I hated the way it affected me.

I broke eye contact first, because I had to because if I did not I was not sure what would show on my face. "Shall we?" I said, gesturing toward the conference room.

Professional, detached nothing

Victor did not move immediately; it felt like he was still trying to process my presence, still trying to understand why I was standing there after everything.

Then finally he stepped aside. "After you " he said quietly. I walked past him without hesitation. The moment I did I felt his gaze following me, heavy, unrelenting like he was trying to see through me like he was searching for something he had lost.

And as I stepped into that room into his world one thing became painfully clear: coming back here was not a mistake, it was the beginning of something far more dangerous. Because this time

I was not the one who had changed.

Whatever this was between us now it was far from over.