Page 50 of The Runaway Bride and the Billionaire

“You… We said everything we needed to say that day in your kitchen. There’s nothing left to say.”

Amelia turned to leave and despite myself, I reached out to hold her. I pulled her into my arms. Her eyes widened when her chest slammed against my own. I lowered my head to claim her lips because I couldn’t stop myself anymore.

She kissed me back but only for a few seconds. Then she pushed me away and ran into the office. I stared up at the sky, sighed, and closed my eyes. I’d truly lost her for good this time. It hurt to even think that way, but it was clear I had let her go.

There was no hope for us.

Chapter 25

Amelia

Ididn’t want to cry at work but I could feel the tears gathering in my eyes. Why did Matteo have to come here? I’d spent the last few days trying to forget him but with one kiss he’d manage to upend all the progress I’d made.

To be fair, I hadn’t made much progress at all. Every attempt to forget Matteo had been futile. Even when I was trying to hate him, I still loved him with every fiber of my being. He was the only man I’d ever loved and that would likely remain true for the rest of my life.

I didn’t even have a choice in the matter. My heart had made up her mind. Matteo was the only one for me. There was a war between my heart who loved him and my mind who knew he was bad for me.

Coming to my office to kiss me didn’t change that. It only made me feel worse about the situation. I felt angry with myself for loving him when I knew he would never really love me. He didn’t even want me in his home. He’d only accepted to have me there because of the deal my father offered him.

They’d both treated me like I was a piece of furniture rather than an actual person. I’d spent my whole life pleasing people, but no one ever considered what I wanted. Neither of them stopped to wonder if I wanted to be bought and sold like an old velvet armchair. My father practically sold me to Matteo except he was the one who paid. He had to pay Matteo to house me.

I wondered what would have happened if Matteo said no. Would my father have increased his offer or looked for someone else who was interested in the deal? They’d discussed my life without me in the room, just like my parents had always done. I was always the last to find out about the decisions of my own life.

Matteo should have known better than to accept a deal like that. He knew what it had been like for me to grow up as a puppet for my parents, an empty shell whose singular purpose was to do their bidding. If my parents took away my chance to choose, I didn’t expect Matteo to do the same.

Then again, a lot of time had passed between us. Maybe he wasn’t the man I used to know. He was someone else. Someone who valued money above love.

I wiped my cheek when the first tear fell. I reached for a tissue and dabbed my eyes gently, looking around to make sure no one saw me. I was pretty sure a good amount of my coworkers saw me with Matteo outside. They saw us talking, they saw him kiss me, and they likely saw me push him away. I did not want them to see me crying.

Ivy would have a field day if she thought Matteo broke my heart. She’d been incredibly cold to me since she found out wewere together. I was the bad guy in her story, the one who stole the man she was destined to be with.

It was easy to ignore her when things were good with Matteo. Being with him made me so happy that I was impervious to her mean remarks and negative energy. I wasn’t sure how I would handle things with her now.

I blinked and steeled myself to face whatever Ivy might bring my way. Having Matteo’s strength was a great help when I had to face Ivy but I didn’t need him. I could handle this on my own. If I was ever going to be truly independent, I needed to learn to face the struggles of life without outside help. I needed to be self-sufficient.

My confrontation with Ivy was postponed because she didn’t come to work that day. Deep down I had to admit that I was grateful for it. After my clash with Matteo that morning, I wasn’t looking forward to another emotionally draining experience.

Hours later, I was about to leave the office for the day when my phone rang. It was my dad. I was worried that Matteo had already told him I moved out of the penthouse. It didn’t seem like something he would do but I worried all the same.

“Hi Dad,” I said after answering and lifting the phone to my ear.

“Amelia. How are you?”

“I’m good.” I forced myself to sound sincere. I forced myself to sound happy even though I could feel myself breaking down. “How’s everything at home?”

“Very well. Thank you for asking. Anyway, I called because I’m having a hard time reaching Matteo. If you’re at the penthouse, can you pass him your phone? I need to speak to him.”

I felt strangely angered by my father’s request. He had no issue revealing the fact that he paid Matteo to keep me in his house and now he wanted my help trying to reach him. He didn’t even care about how I felt.

My anger pushed me to admit something that I’d previously had every intention of hiding. From the way my father spoke, he had no idea that I’d left the penthouse. Matteo didn’t tell him but I was about to.

“No, Dad. I’m not at the penthouse.”

“All right. Then when you get back, you can—”

I cut him off mid-sentence. “I won’t be going back. I moved out of the penthouse for good.”

It took my father a long time to answer. I could hear his steady breathing on the other side of the line. I imagined him massaging his temples and trying to keep his temper in check. “That wasn’t the deal we made,” he finally said.

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