Chapter 3

Present day now….. Kira Pov

The door opened, and Kira didn’t move from the bed.

Adrian stood in the doorway, tie loosened, jacket slung over his arm. He looked tired. Annoyed.

“That was embarrassing tonight.”

Kira’s breath caught. Not *I’m sorry*. Just disappointment.

“What?” Her voice came out flat.

There were photographers everywhere, Kira. Do you know what the headlines are going to say?”

She stared at him. Her ankle throbbed. Her dress reeked of smoke. And he was worried about optics.

“I twisted my ankle.”

“I know. I saw.” He pulled off his watch, set it on the dresser with a sharp click. “But you could have handled it better. Vanessa was terrified too, but she kept her composure. That’s the difference.”

The difference. Between her and Vanessa. Always Vanessa.

“I couldn’t walk, Adrian.”

“You made it outside, didn’t you?” He finally looked at her, his expression dismissive. “I don’t know why you had to make such a scene. It was just smoke. The fire was barely anything. Vanessa didn’t fall apart like that.”

Kira felt something crack inside her chest. Not break. It had already broken. This was something else.

“Right,” she said quietly. “Vanessa handled it better.”

“She did.” He loosened his collar. “Look, I’m not trying to be harsh, but we have an image to maintain. Tonight made us look…..”

He stopped.

His eyes had landed on the suitcases.

Two of them. One large, one small. Sitting by the closet door, zippers closed, ready to go.

The room went silent.

Adrian’s gaze moved from the suitcases to Kira, still on the bed in her smoke-stained dress. Then back to the suitcases.

“Going somewhere?”

Kira’s heart slammed against her ribs. Her hands clenched in the fabric of her dress.

Say it. Just say it.

“Yes.”

The word hung in the air between them.

Adrian blinked. Then snort. He laughed, short, sharp, disbelieving.

“What?”

“I’m leaving.”

He stared at her like she’d just told him she was flying to the moon. “Leaving. As in… what? A trip? You didn’t mention…”

“I’m leaving you, Adrian.”

The words came out steadier than she felt. Her pulse was racing. Her throat was tight. But her voice didn’t shake.

Adrian’s expression shifted. Confusion. Then irritation.

“Don’t be dramatic.”

“I’m not.”

“Kira.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I know tonight was stressful. The fire scared you. But that’s not a reason to….”

“It’s not about the fire.”

“Then what?” He was getting impatient now. She could see it in the way his brows curved in. “What is this? Some kind of tantrum because I didn’t carry you out of the ballroom myself?”

She almost laughed. Almost. “You stepped over me, Adrian. I reached for you, and you stepped over me.”

“Vanessa was trapped”

“I was hurt.”

“You’re fine.” He gestured at her, dismissive. “You’re sitting here talking to me, aren’t you? Vanessa could barely breathe. She needed help.”

“And I didn’t?”

“You never do.” His tone was so matter-of-fact it made her stomach turn. “You always handle everything. That’s who you are. You don’t need me hovering over you like some damsel in distress.”

There it was. The truth he’d never said out loud before.

She didn’t need him. So he’d stopped trying.

“Where are you even planning to go?” Adrian crossed his arms, leaning against the dresser like this was all some inconvenience he had to manage. “You don’t have money. You said your family had disowned you years ago. You think you’re just going to walk out with Lily and figure it out?”

Kira said nothing.

He narrowed his eyes. “This is about attention, isn’t it? You want me to apologize. To beg you to stay.”

“No.”

“Then what do you want, Kira?” His voice got louder, frustration bleeding through. “What is it you think you’re going to accomplish by leaving?” Huh?

Then he shook his head. “You’re being ridiculous. You’re upset. I get it. But running away isn’t going to solve anything.”

“I’m not running away. I’m leaving.”

“Same thing.”

“No. It’s not.”

Adrian checked his watch. The one he’d just set down. An automatic gesture. Always checking the time. Always somewhere else to be.

“Look,” he said, his tone changed to something almost reasonable. Something that might have worked on her a year ago. “Take the night. Sleep on it. We’ll talk in the morning when you’re thinking clearly.”

“I’ve never been more clear.”

He ignored that. “I have the Riverside dinner in three days. It’s important. Major investors. You need to be there.”

Of course. The dinner. That’s what mattered.

“Vanessa usually handles those,” Kira said quietly.

“She’s taking the week off. I gave it to her after tonight. She’s shaken up.” He straightened his tie in the mirror. “So I need you functional. Can you do that? Can you pull yourself together by Thursday?”

Functional. Like an appliance. Like something he could switch on when needed.

“Where would you even go?” he asked again, his voice edging toward mockery now. “Seriously, Kira. Where? You have no one. No money. No job. You’ve been out for nine years. Who’s going to take you in?”

She could tell him. She could say the name that would shatter everything he thought he knew about her.

Ashford.

But she didn’t. He didn’t deserve to know. Not yet.

“I’ll figure it out,” she said.

Adrian shook his head, picking up his jacket. “You’ll be back in a week. Two, tops. When you realize how good you have it here.”

He walked to the door. Paused. Looked back at her one last time.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Kira. Think about Lily. About Ethan. About what this family needs.”

Then he left. Just walked out. Closed the door behind him.

His office door clicked shut down the hall.

Kira sat on the bed, staring at the space where he’d stood.

He hadn’t asked her to stay. Hadn’t tried to stop her. Hadn’t even seemed to care.

He thought she’d be back or had nowhere else to go.

The tears came then. Silent, hot trails down her cheeks as she lay back on the bed. Her face pressed into the pillow that smelled like expensive detergent and nothing else. Not him. Never him.

Nine years. Gone.

She cried until there was nothing left.

Then she set her alarm for 5:30am.

And she closed her eyes.

*************

When the alarm went off, the room was still dark.

Kira silenced it immediately and sat up. Her ankle ached. Her eyes were swollen. But her hands were steady as she changed into jeans and a sweater.

She picked up both suitcases and walked quietly down the hall to Lily’s room.

“Baby,” she whispered, kneeling beside the bed. “Wake up. We need to go.”

Lily’s eyes opened slowly. “Mommy?”

“Shh. We have to be very quiet, okay? We’re going on a trip.”

“Where’s Daddy?”

“Sleeping.”

Lily sat up, rubbing her eyes. “Is Ethan coming?”

The question gutted her. “Not this time, sweetheart.”

They crept downstairs. Every creak of the stairs sounded like thunder. Every breath too loud. Adrian’s office door was still closed.

At exactly 6:00am, headlights swept across the front windows.

Not one car. Twelve.

Twelve black SUVs lined up at the gate like a presidential motorcade.

Kira opened the front door. The early morning air was cold against her face.

The first car opened.

Marcus.

Her brother had come himself. He stepped out, tall and sharp in an expensive suit. Nine years older. Still the same protective look in his eyes.

He smiled. “Ready to come home, sister?”

Behind her, Adrian’s office door opened, his voice cut through the dawn. “Kira?”

Footsteps in the hall.

He was awake.

Marcus’s expression didn’t change. He simply held out the door, Kira grabbed Lily’s hand, they entered the car and drove off.