Chapter 6
It wasn’t until the next afternoon that Kael finally found a moment for himself. His first instinct was to check for messages from me.
There was only one. A brief, cold reply.
[Okay.]
A frown crept across his face as he read it.
[Why‘ s she being so calm lately?]
With a small, knowing smile, he typed out another message.
[You little fool, why haven‘ t you been. checking up on me? Not even asking when I’ll be back?]
His fingers hovered over the screen, and he smiled faintly, imagining my reaction. As he passed a dessert shop, he paused, not thinking, and bought my favorite strawberry cake.
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When Kaia caught the sweet scent of the strawberry cake, a soft chuckle escaped her lips as she reached out to take it.
“How did you know I was craving cake?”
But Kael quickly pulled the cake away, taking a few steps back.
“This isn‘ t for you.”
His eyes lingered on the cake for a moment, the corners of his lips softening with an almost tender look as he held it carefully.
“It’s for Skylar.”
But after half an hour passed, his phone remained silent. There was no reply to his message.
A heavyweight began to settle in his chest, and he couldn’t shake the feeling of
unease.
After settling Kaia into the villa, he tried calling me.
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“You little fool, pick up the phone,” he muttered under his breath.
But the call never connected. The automated message came through, telling him that the number had been turned off.
His smile vanished instantly.
He knew me well enough to understand that I had a deep–seated anxiety about my battery dying, and I’d never once turned off my phone in all the years we’d been together.
Panic washed over him like a cold wave. His heart raced, and before he even thought, he was dashing into the street, frantically trying to flag down a car.
All the while, he kept dialing my number, his fingers trembling with urgency.
“Pick up the phone, Skylar!”
“Please… don’t let anything bad happen.”
Kael gripped his phone so tightly his
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knuckles whitened, the veins on his hand bulging with tension.
For the first time, panic surged through him, an overwhelming sense that something irreplaceable was slipping away, something he could never get back.
“Skylar!”
Without a second thought, he jumped out of the car and sprinted up the stairs, ignoring the call from Kaia along the way.
When he finally reached the door, a wave of relief washed over him as he spotted the little decoration hanging from the doorknob.
That was home. That feeling, the warmth of it, made everything else seem so far away.
“Skylar, why didn’t you answer my calls?”
He pushed open the door, but the words died on his lips.
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The apartment was empty.
Once cozy and full of life, the living room. stood sterile and cold, like a house abandoned for years.
He called my name, his voice frantic, as he rushed from room to room.
But I was gone.
Panic clawed at his chest as he bolted toward the master bedroom, flinging open the closet doors.
My clothes were gone. Not a single trace was left behind.
Only his pajamas and suits, hanging lonely and untouched, stared back at him,
mocking his disbelief.
“How… how could this happen?”
His face drained of color, his thoughts spinning out of control.
Finally, he stumbled to the cabinet in the living room, his hands trembling as he
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Chapter 6
reached for the handle, praying that something, anything, would remain to tell him I hadn‘ t vanished completely.
But even the umbrella was gone.
That umbrella, the one we‘ d accidentally swapped during our first meeting, had somehow become a symbol of us.
It was the spark that brought us together, the unspoken bond between us.
Once we were a couple, we had treated it like a “token of our love,” carefully preserving it as a keepsake.
We had even joked that we’d bring it out as a witness on our wedding day.
But now, there was no future for us.
I had tossed the umbrella away and all the meaningless trinkets that no longer held any value.
Kael’s eyes reddened as he repeatedly dialed my number, his desperation growing with each failed attempt.
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Meanwhile, after stepping off the plane, I removed the SIM card from my phone and casually tossed it into a trash can.
Six years of foolishness.
Six years of lies.
Finally, I could leave the past behind and face my responsibilities, free from the weight of everything that had bound me to him.
“Skylar, over here!”
My sister had come to pick me up early.
She looked as stylish as ever, her oversized sunglasses nearly swallowing her face.
Six years had passed, but she still looked as young and vibrant as the day I left.
“I’m back!”
She smiled and wrapped me in a warm hug.
“It’s good to have you back. I thought you’d gone wild out there and forgotten
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about me and the family business.”
Ever since our parents had died in a plane crash when I was seven, my sister, three
years my senior, had carried the weight of the family’s responsibilities.
She had a sharp mind and a gift for emotional insight, effortlessly navigating high–stakes business deals and
negotiations, even as a young woman.
Because of her, I have been free to live my life on my own terms all these years.
But three months ago, she had sent me a message saying that the company was facing a crisis unlike any before.
The only way out of this mess was for me to marry Jace Grant, the young heir of a neighboring corporation, and help the family weather the storm.
Back then, I was blinded by my relationship with Kael, convinced that we had a bright future together. Without a second thought, I had rejected the idea.
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But now, I was willing to consider it.
If Jace and I didn’t outright loathe each other, marriage wouldn’t be a fate worse than death.
In the grand scheme of things, love seemed so trivial compared to the life ahead of me.
This time, I wanted to choose to support my sister, too.
With her careful arrangements, I met Jace for the first time.
He was nothing like I had imagined.
I had expected a spoiled, arrogant heir, someone whose wealth oozed from every inch of his well–tailored suit.
Instead, he approached in a sleek black trench coat, his posture straight and dignified.
There was no trace of arrogance. His smile was warm and genuine, and in that instant, I couldn’t help but freeze, caught off guard by his unexpected charm.
