Chapter 3 — The Billionaire's Search

Luna was halfway through her afternoon shift when she noticed something strange.

The diner was louder than usual.

Customers were talking among themselves, and several people had their eyes fixed on the television mounted above the counter. Luna barely paid attention at first. She was too busy wiping down a table, trying to finish her work before another order came in.

Then the volume suddenly increased.

**“Breaking news.”**

Luna looked up.A familiar face appeared on the screen.Her hand stopped moving.

Ethan Blackwood.

For a moment, she couldn't breathe.The boy from the alley was gone.In his place sat a grown man in a dark suit, looking calm and powerful. His features had changed with age, but Luna knew those eyes. She could never forget them.She stared at the screen as the reporter smiled.

“Mr. Blackwood, thank you for joining us.”

Ethan gave a polite nod.

“Thank you for having me.”

The reporter leaned forward.

“You've been away from the state for fourteen years. What made you decide to return now?”

Ethan was silent for a moment.

“Some things are difficult to leave behind.”

Luna's fingers tightened around the cloth in her hand.She knew exactly what he meant.

The reporter continued.

“You're referring to what happened when you were fifteen?”

Ethan nodded.

“I was attacked while on my way home. My family had been receiving threats at the time. One evening, the people following us finally made their move.”

Luna stopped pretending to clean.She could hear every word.

“Our car was forced off the road,” Ethan continued. “My driver told me to run.”

The memories came rushing back.The rain.The dark alley.Blood covering his hand.His frightened face.

Luna's heart began beating faster.

“I ran until I reached an alley,” Ethan said. “I thought I had gotten away.”

His expression darkened.

“But one of them found me.”

Luna's hand slowly moved to the pendant beneath her uniform.

“He stabbed me.”

Her throat tightened.

She could almost feel the piece of her torn dress beneath her fingers again.

Ethan continued speaking.

“I managed to get away when the man ran after hearing people approaching. I hid in an alley because I was afraid they'd come back.”

Luna swallowed.

She remembered sitting beside him.She remembered telling him he wasn't fine because he was bleeding.She remembered tearing her dress.Then the reporter asked the question that made her heart stop.

“But you weren't alone in that alley, were you?”

Ethan's expression softened.

“No.”

He looked down for a moment before continuing.

“A girl found me.”

Luna's eyes filled with tears.

“She was only twelve.”

The diner suddenly seemed far away.

“She was scared,” Ethan said, “but she stayed.”

Luna's lips parted.

“She tore her dress to stop my bleeding.”

The cloth slipped from Luna's hand.She didn't even notice it fall.The girl on the television was her.It had always been her.

The reporter leaned closer.

“Do you remember anything about her?”

Ethan didn't hesitate.

“Everything I could.”

Luna's heartbeat thundered in her ears.

“Her name?”

Ethan looked directly into the camera.

“Luna.”

Luna froze.He remembered.After fourteen years, he still remembered her.Her eyes burned as tears rolled down her cheeks.

The reporter looked surprised.

“And you're still searching for her?”

“I never stopped.”

“Why?”

Ethan's answer was simple.

“Because I owe her my life.”

Luna pressed a hand against her chest.

She had spent fourteen years believing that night had meant something only to her.She had kept the pendant because it was the only proof she had that someone had once promised to find her.

And now that someone was sitting on television, telling the entire world that he had never forgotten.

The reporter smiled.

“If Luna is watching this right now, what would you like to tell her?”

Ethan's eyes softened.

“I kept my promise.”

Luna stopped breathing.

*I'll find you.*

The words echoed in her mind exactly as they had fourteen years ago.She wiped her tears quickly.The reporter wasn't finished.

“How far are you willing to go to find her?”

Ethan answered without hesitation.

“I'll give ten million dollars to anyone who can provide information that leads me to her.”

The diner erupted.

“Ten million?”

“Who is this girl?”

“Imagine being worth ten million dollars just because you saved someone's life!”

Luna barely heard them.Ten million dollars.The amount was almost impossible to understand.She could pay her bills.She could leave the cleaning company.She could move somewhere better.She could finally stop worrying about whether she would have enough money to eat.

All she had to do was tell him the truth.

*I'm Luna.*

Her fingers closed around the pendant beneath her uniform.For one brief moment, hope rose inside her.Maybe this was her chance.Maybe the boy in the alley really had meant what he said.Maybe she could finally have the life she had always dreamed of.

Then Luna looked down at herself.Her cheap diner uniform,Her worn shoes,Her tired hands,The scar on her neck.She thought about Ethan sitting in that expensive suit surrounded by cameras, wealth, and people who admired him.

Then she remembered the way people looked at her.The way her own family treated her.The way Aurora always seemed to belong in a world Luna could never enter.

Her hope slowly faded.

“No.”

The word escaped her lips.She stepped away from the television.

“Someone like him doesn't need someone like me.”She forced herself to return to work.But it was impossible to concentrate.Every few minutes, she found herself looking at the television again.

Ethan was still talking about the girl who had saved him.About the promise he had made.About finding her.

Luna knew she was the girl he wanted.Yet she couldn't bring herself to step forward.Not because she didn't want him to find her.Because somewhere along the way, Luna had convinced herself that someone like Ethan Blackwood could never truly choose someone like her.

—------------------------------------------------------

By the time Luna finished her shift, it was almost eleven.She had wanted to wait for Marcus, but he had finished earlier because of another commitment.

So Luna walked home alone.The streets were quiet, and she pulled her jacket tighter around herself.Her feet hurt.Her head was still filled with Ethan's voice.

*I never stopped.*

She touched the pendant through her clothing.For fourteen years, she had carried that promise with her.Now she had heard him make the same promise in front of the entire world.She should have felt happy.Instead, she felt afraid.

Luna turned onto a quieter street.Then she heard footsteps behind her.She glanced over her shoulder.

Two men were walking in her direction.She looked away and kept walking.Their footsteps continued.

Luna quickened her pace.

So did theirs.

Her heart began pounding.She turned onto another street, hoping to lose them, but one of the men suddenly grabbed her arm.

“Where are you going?”

“Let me go!”

Luna yanked herself free.Another man stepped in front of her.

“Don't make this difficult.”

Luna backed away.

“Leave me alone.”

He grabbed the front of her jacket.She screamed.

“Help!”

His hand covered her mouth.Luna fought with everything she had.She kicked.Scratched.Bit the hand covering her mouth.The man cursed and shoved her hard against the wall.

Pain exploded through her head, but she refused to stop fighting.She remembered every time someone had called her weak.Every time she had been pushed aside.Every time she had been treated as though she didn't matter.She wasn't going to let anyone take this from her.

Luna kicked one of the men hard enough to make him stumble.

“Get off me!”

The second man struck her.

Her vision blurred.She fell to the ground.The men tried to overpower her again, but Luna continued fighting until her strength began to disappear.

Then something inside her body suddenly felt wrong.Her left side became strangely heavy.Her fingers wouldn't move properly.She tried to push herself up.

Nothing.

The world began spinning.The men's voices grew distant.

“She’s going to pass out.”

“Forget it. Let's go.”

Their footsteps slowly disappeared.Luna lay on the cold pavement, barely able to move.She tried to scream.Nothing came out.Her eyes slowly closed.

—------------------------------------------------------

A man driving home noticed something lying beside the road.At first, he thought it was a pile of clothes.

Then he saw the blood.

He slammed on his brakes and rushed out of his car.

“Oh my God.”

He knelt beside Luna.

“Miss?”

She didn't respond.He checked her breathing.She was alive but barely conscious.He immediately pulled out his phone.

“911? There's an injured woman here. She looks like she's been attacked. She's bleeding badly.”

He gave the dispatcher the location before taking off his jacket and placing it over Luna.

“You're going to be okay.”

Luna couldn't answer.Her eyes opened for only a second.She saw the stranger kneeling beside her.Then everything went black.