Rain slashed sideways across her face as she ran.Amelia didn't care—didn't stop.She needed to get away.From the house.From Ethan.From herself.
Footsteps echoed behind her.
"Amelia!"
His voice cracked through the storm.But she didn't turn back.Not yet.
Every step was an escape from everything she couldn't forget fast enough.The wedding.The papers.The lies.Violet's voice in her ear like poison-laced silk.
He didn't fight for you then.Why would now be any different?
But then why was he chasing?
Why was her heart hoping?
The streetlights blurred into gold halos through the rain,like broken promises pretending to be holy.
Her memories didn't come back like puzzle pieces.They came back like shattered glass—scattered, sharp, and bleeding her from the inside out.
She stopped.
Not because she wanted to.But because she couldn't run from the pain anymore.
He caught up, breathless, soaked to the bone.
"Why are you running from me?"His voice was hoarse.
She turned, fury in her eyes.
"Because every time I get close to you… I lose myself."
He stepped forward.
"Then let me find you. Let us find who we were again."
Her laugh was bitter.
"You let Violet hand me divorce papers."
Silence.Thunder cracked.His eyes darkened.
"Because I was blackmailed."
Her heart stopped.
"What?"
He looked away, jaw tight.
"She had something. A video. If it leaked… you would've gone to prison instead of your mother."
Amelia's world tilted.
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"You let me think you abandoned me… to protect me?"
He nodded once.
And just like that—she realized she hadn't run far enough to escape the truth.Because the truth had always been chasing her.