Chapter 194
Mia stood up from the living room slowly, like every movement weighed her down. Her legs felt heavy, her chest even heavier. She walked back to her room, dragging her feet across the floor.
The moment she stepped inside, her eyes swept over the disaster in front of her.
The entire room was a mess.
Her gaze landed on the luggage sitting on the ground, half–open, clothes spilling out like the mess in her head. Some were scattered on the floor, others thrown over the bed without care.
Everything looked like it had been pulled apart in a rush, like someone had started to pack and lost the will halfway through.
Story of her life
She just stood there for a moment, breathing in and out, her chest rising and falling unevenly.
Ethan had a point.
She hated that he did. She hated that deep down, she knew some of what he had said was true.
Yes, her main reason for not contacting Alex after being chased out was because of his father.
Charles Blackwell.
Even thinking his name makes her feel small again, like she was back in that moment–cornered, scared, powerless.
The point is then she was terrified that if she reached out to Alex, Charles would find her. And if he found her, he would do worse than he had already done. Not just to her, but to her family too.
Her family had already been chased out of their home because of her.
She couldn’t let that happen again. She couldn’t put them through that again.
But that wasn’t the only reason.
The second reason… was Alex himself.
She had convinced herself that the whole time they were together, he had been playing her. That it had all been some elaborate act, something to pass the time while he had other plans–plans that included marrying someone else.
She believed Charles Blackwell when he told her Alex had been lying.
She believed Zoe, with her perfect smile and poisonous words, when she said Alex was still playing his little games even after he supposedly
“chose” Mia over her.
And the truth was… believing them was easier…
Because if she believed them, then she could make sense of the pain. She could tell herself she had been a fool, and fools learn their lessons.
But if she believed something else… then she had to face a different kind of pain. One that said maybe she had been wrong. Maybe she had thrown away something real when she decided not to reach out to him ever again.
The one that will remind her that she gave up on them at the first trouble they faced, that she should have fought more for them.
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Chapter 194
And that hurt in a way she didn’t know how to face.
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She had held on to the history of how Alex treated her at the beginning…the hate, the games, the bet, the way he pushed and pulled her like she was just a toy to play around with.
She convinced herself it was all part of one giant game.
It was easier.
But now… now she wasn’t so sure.
It looked like it wasn’t all a lie.
Mia shook her head hard, like she could shake the thoughts out.
That would mean Alex didn’t know what his father had done. That maybe, he had actually loved her.
And if that was true…
She bit her lip hard.
If that was true, then maybe he had gone looking for her. Maybe he had spent days, weeks, months trying to find her. Maybe he had been just
as broken as she was when she left.
The thought was dangerous.
But then… something didn’t add up.
If Alex loved her so much, why didn’t he find her? He could have. She knew he could have.
Alex Blackwell had all the resources in the world.
If he wanted to, he could have found her in a week, maybe even in a day.
But he didn’t.
Because he didn’t want to.
Because he was glad she was gone.
Because he probably thanked his father for removing her from his life.
And that thought…God, that thought, burned more than anything else.
Her throat tightened painfully, her eyes sting again. She hated how much it still hurt.
It had been years.
Years.
And yet here she was, standing in the middle of a messy room, with messy bags, messy feelings, and the same ache in her chest.
Mia let out a shaky breath and sat down heavily on the edge of the bed.
She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, her hands clasped together so tightly her knuckles ached.
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Chapter 194
She didn’t know what to believe anymore.
She didn’t know if she should hate Alex or allow herself to miss him like it wants to
She didn’t know if she had been protecting herself all these years, or just running from a truth she didn’t want to face.
She sighs and starts picking up the clothes from the floor.
Maybe she should stay
She could work there for a few months, then leave?
But then she stopped folding, her hands frozen midair over a shirt.
Why was she still running?
Charles Blackwell wasn’t here.
She didn’t have a reason to run anymore..
Her thoughts shifted to Aiden. Her sweet, innocent little boy. Her son needed stability. He needed a home where the walls didn’t change every few months.
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She can’t keep uprooting him every time her fears whisper in her ear. She couldn’t keep dragging him from one temporary place to another.
That wasn’t fair. That wasn’t the kind of mother she wanted to be.
With a quiet sigh, she moved to the corner of the room and started arranging the suitcases.
Maybe they should stay, she can’t just lose such a great opportunity…
She promised her son a good life here, what is she supposed to tell him now?
Ethan might be right, maybe they will never meet each other.
Now that she knows he is the CEO she can hide in the shadows for a few months while trying to get another good job?
She let out another sigh…
Just how on earth is she supposed to work in a company while hiding from the owner of said company.
This is honestly ridiculous.
“Are we leaving, Mama?”
