Her Rebirth.-Chapter 60

Days passed, and Amelia recovered and even insisted on going to work, even though Kai suggested that she rest for a few more days. But how could she accept? Every second she spent with him felt like hell. She needed to calm herself, sort her emotions out, and bury them while at it.

Now, back at the office, she surrounded herself with the familiar sounds of ringing phones, the clicking of keyboards, the smell of latte. Since Fashion Week had ended, Liavenne had obviously become less busy, and almost everyone was a bit idle. So, using this opportunity, Amelia began sketching, not following any theme, just for fun. She wanted to use it to immerse herself in her world and push aside the mess of emotions tangled inside her.

But it didn’t. With every single stroke, she found herself thinking about Kai, and by the time she was done sketching, her model resembled Kai by at least eighty percent.

"Damn it," Amelia muttered, quite enraged with her turbulent emotions.

Damien walked into the office, a phone in his hand, as he aggressively spoke to the person on the other end of the call. Then, seeing the other figure in his office, he froze, not even realizing when his hand shut off the call.

Damien had never known fear like that before.

The moment he had discovered Amelia had been kidnapped, something inside him had snapped. It wasn’t just worry, it was terror, a gut-wrenching panic that clawed at his chest and made it impossible to think straight. Every second she had been missing had been a second of pure hell. Furthermore, not only had Amelia’s reputation plummeted because of the failed press conference, but now he also had the problem of finding whoever had taken her. He had called the police, Kai, and the Cosgrove family. While the police had searched without fail, Mason seemed less bothered, and Kai acted almost nonchalantly.

He was lost on what to do, in despair, when suddenly, just like that, he received a call from Kai Blackwood, of all people, saying Amelia had been found. No details, no explanations. Just a cold, clipped sentence before the line went dead.

It had been maddening.

He had wanted to rush over, to see her with his own eyes, to make sure she was safe, but Kai had made it very clear he wasn’t welcome.

Now, standing in the office, Damien finally saw her again for the first time since that nightmare.

And for a moment, his heart stopped.

She looked... fine. At least, on the surface. Her face was calm, composed, just as it always was. But Damien knew her better than that.

The faint bruising on her cheek, the confusion and frustration in her eyes, she was not fine.

"Amelia," he called.

Amelia looked up with a small smile. "Good morning, Damien."

That smile. That damn smile. Like nothing had happened.

His jaw clenched. "You shouldn’t be here."

"I’m fine," she replied casually.

Fine? FINE?

"Amelia." His voice was lower now. "You were kidnapped. You were missing for days. And now you’re acting like it was nothing."

She sighed. "What else am I supposed to do? Stay home and wallow in it?"

Yes. Let me protect you. Let me be there for you.

But he didn’t say that. He couldn’t.

Instead, he exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. "You sure? Because you don’t look fine."

Damien saw it clearly as her smile stiffened, then, just as quickly, she shook her head. "It doesn’t matter."

Doesn’t matter?

His fingers curled into a fist.

"Damien," Amelia said softly, looking up at him. "I’m okay. Really."

Liar.

He wanted to believe her. God, he wanted to believe her.

But he couldn’t.

Amelia didn’t want to bother Damien or make him overly worried. Besides, she truly was fine now. She had seen his messages of concern but had been unable to answer them. Still, she felt grateful to him, after all, it was nice knowing someone cared.

Damien sighed. "Alright, if you say so," he said, putting his briefcase down on his table.

Amelia knew that Damien wasn’t convinced. However, she prayed that he wouldn’t push the matter further. And, just as she had hoped, he didn’t. Instead, he pulled out his laptop and started working.

After a while, Marie called her up to her office. After that first time, Amelia had barely seen Marie or spoken to her.

"I heard about what happened," Marie said, putting down her working tablet as she looked at Amelia, who sat before her. "Are you okay?"

Amelia exhaled, resisting the urge to rub her temple. "I’m fine."

"You should’ve stayed home," Marie continued. "After everything—"

"I was bored," Amelia interrupted, offering a small, strained smile. "Staying at home all day would’ve made me go crazy."

It wasn’t a complete lie.

She was going crazy.

But not because of boredom.

Because every second spent in that house, under Kai’s watchful eyes, felt like she was suffocating. Every time he spoke to her, every time his fingers so much as brushed her skin, something inside her stirred, something terrifying.

Her heart raced at the memory of that fevered night, the way he had held her, the way his lips had brushed against hers under the pretense of feeding her medicine. She could still taste...No.

It was dangerous.

He was dangerous.

And what was worse—

She was starting to think she wanted that danger.

But she was scared. Really scared.

Because she had fallen before.

She had once loved with everything she had, and she had lost everything in return.

Love had ruined her.

She would be a fool to let it happen again.

So she buried herself in work. She forced herself to focus on sketches, on fabric samples, on anything that would pull her away from the thoughts clawing at her mind. But the harder she tried to ignore it, the worse it got.

Kai had already invaded her thoughts, her emotions, her entire being.

And she was losing.

Just as she was beginning to spiral again, her phone buzzed. It was a call from an unknown number.

Frowning, she answered. "Hello?"

"Miss Cosgrove?" a vaguely familiar voice said from the other end. "This is Lydia from Crestview Realty. I believe we spoke a while back when you were searching for an apartment?"

Amelia blinked. Crestview Realty?

She remembered. It was one of the places she had visited while searching for an apartment after leaving the Cosgrove mansion. However, because Mason was out to get her, she had been told very politely that she would be contacted at the soonest. But she never was, until now.

"Yes, I remember," she said slowly.

"Well, I wanted to inform you that a unit you might be interested in just opened up. It’s a beautiful high-rise apartment with full security, private access, and—"

A new place.

A space that was entirely hers.

Somewhere far from Kai.

The real estate agent continued speaking, but Amelia barely heard her.

Her grip on the phone tightened.

This was it.

This was her way out.

So why...

Why did her chest feel so heavy?

Sera stared at her phone, brows furrowed, her fingers tightening around the device.

Amelia had been missing for days. Though it wasn’t confirmed, the news had circulated in the inner circle, and after that, there was nothing else. No updates, no confirmations, just silence.

She wasn’t particularly fond of Amelia. In fact, she could barely stand her most of the time. But this... this was different. She wasn’t heartless. The thought of Amelia, kidnapped, God-knows-where, it made her extremely worried.

With a frustrated sigh, she shoved her phone into her bag and stepped into a nearby café, hoping that maybe a drink would clear her mind.

But then her mood further soured at the sight of Lilac and Ash, sitting together in a cozy booth, smiling at each other.

For a second, Sera just stood there, blinking. Then the disgust settled in.

Why did she have to see this pair of dogs now?

Lilac must have sensed her presence because she turned, and their gazes met. Then she looked away, a mocking smile flashing across her face.

Sera sneered. Fucking bitch. How did I ever think she was innocent and kind-hearted anyway?

Ash, on the other hand, also saw her, looking surprised. His brows lifted, and then, just as quickly, he stood up and started walking toward her.

"Sera."

She turned her back on him and strode toward the counter, completely ignoring him.

"Sera," he called out again.

Still, she ignored him, tapping her nails against the counter as she placed her order.

"Boba tea. Large."

"You’re being childish," Ash said from behind her, mildly irritated.

Sera finally turned to face him, her expression full of mockery.

"Says the man who cheated," she said flatly.

Ash’s jaw tightened. "Sera, I—"

Before he could say anything more, Lilac was suddenly beside him, wrapping her delicate fingers around his hand.

"Brother Ash," she whimpered, her voice soft and almost trembling. "Please don’t."

Sera snorted, then looked Lilac up and down, her lips curling in contempt.

"Pathetic," she muttered, grabbing her drink the second it was set on the counter.

And with that, she turned on her heel and walked out, leaving them standing there, embarrassed.