The Return

I shouldn’t have come back.

The thought kept repeating in my head as the sleek black car slowed in front of the towering mansion I once called home—well, not really home. It was his home. Adrian Knight’s.

The place hadn’t changed. Tall iron gates, sharp edges, and intimidating silence. Just like him.

I stepped out of the car, clutching the strap of my worn-out bag. My shoes made soft clicks on the marble as I walked up the steps. Every sound echoed louder than my heart, but nothing drowned out the memories flooding back.

We used to laugh here once. I used to dance barefoot in this very driveway, teasing him to come out of his office and live a little. And he would—eventually. Always late, always reluctant, but always… him.

But those days were gone. So was I.

Three years. No calls. No letters. No goodbyes.

Now here I was. Back like a ghost, hoping to be forgiven for disappearing like one.

The front door opened before I could knock. Elena, the housekeeper, blinked in disbelief.

“Miss Ivy?” she said, her voice laced with shock.

“Hi, Elena.”

“My God… is it really you?” Her eyes scanned me from head to toe, unsure whether to cry or scream. “After all this time…”

“I know. I shouldn’t just show up like this.”

She opened the door wider, stepping aside. “He’s not going to like this.”

“I don’t expect him to.”

Still, I walked inside.

The scent hit me first. Expensive cologne, polished wood, and a faint memory of the citrus soap Adrian used to keep in the upstairs bathroom. Everything was so familiar and yet completely foreign. The air felt heavy—like even the walls were holding their breath.

I followed Elena silently down the hallway, heart thudding with every step.

He was in his office. Of course.

The door creaked slightly as she pushed it open.

Adrian looked up from behind his desk, and for a full second, everything stopped.

I had prepared for a lot of things. Anger. Silence. Maybe even cold indifference.

But I hadn’t prepared for his eyes.

Those same stormy grey eyes that once looked at me like I was the only girl in the world—now staring at me like I was a ghost he didn’t ask for.

“Ivy,” he said, voice sharp, low.

“Hi, Adrian.”

He stood, slowly. “What are you doing here?”

I swallowed. “I didn’t know where else to go.”

He laughed once, bitterly. “That’s rich. After three years, now you come back? Just like that?”

“I had my reasons.”

He walked out from behind the desk, jaw clenched. “Reasons? You disappeared without a word, Ivy. You vanished. And now you just show up at my door like nothing happened?”

“I’m not asking for anything,” I said quickly. “Not money. Not forgiveness. I just… I needed somewhere safe. Just for a little while.”

He stared at me for a long time. Then: “You should’ve stayed gone.”

That one hurt more than I thought it would.

“I understand,” I said quietly. “I won’t stay long. I just needed a few days to figure things out.”

Silence.

Then, surprisingly, he said, “You can stay. Guest room. Don’t expect conversation.”

I blinked. “Thank you.”

“But let’s get one thing straight,” he added, stepping closer. “You’re not the same girl who left, and I’m not the same man who let you go.”

“I never asked you to let me go,” I whispered.

“But you did go.”

His words hung in the air like poison.

He turned his back to me. “Elena will show you to your room. I have work to do.”

And just like that, the conversation ended.

The room she brought me to was familiar. Cream walls. Tall windows. A four-poster bed too big for one person. I dropped my bag on the chair and stood there, staring out the window.

I didn’t cry. I had promised myself I wouldn’t.

But my chest ached.

Adrian had every right to hate me. I had left him without explanation, ghosted the only man who ever truly saw me. But how could I explain that leaving him was the only way I could protect him?

Some truths are too heavy to tell. Some secrets too dangerous to share.

Still, I was back now. Not for love. Not for closure.

But because the past I thought I buried had found me again—and if I stayed out there any longer, it was going to swallow me whole.

The lights of the city twinkled in the distance as night fell. I sat on the edge of the bed, hands clasped tightly in my lap, listening to the silence.

Somewhere in this house, Adrian was probably still working, still pretending I didn’t exist.

Maybe he wished I didn’t.

But we both knew something was still there—buried under years of silence, guilt, and pain.

I didn’t come back to open old wounds.

But now that I was here… the truth wouldn’t stay buried for long.

And neither would the feelings I tried so hard to forget.