Chapter 6: Walking Away

I didn't make it past the parking lot before I heard footsteps behind me.

“Elara, wait.”

I knew that voice.

I kept walking.

“Elara.”

Zane caught up with me and grabbed my wrist.

I looked down at his hand until he reluctantly let go.

“What?”

He stared at me, breathing hard.

“You shouldn't have left like that.”

A laugh escaped me.

“Shouldn't have?”

I looked back toward the venue.

“You were getting married, Zane.”

“I know.”

“To my best friend.”

His expression tightened.

“It wasn't supposed to happen like this.”

“Then how was it supposed to happen?”

He had no answer.

For five years, Zane had always had an answer.

There was always a mission.

A training exercise.

A reason he couldn't come home.

A reason we had to keep our relationship secret.

Now, standing in front of me, he looked almost like the man I used to know.

Almost.

“I was trying to protect you,” he said.

I shook my head.

“You were protecting yourself.”

His jaw tightened.

“Sofia's father needed help.”

“And you decided marrying her was the only way?”

“It was complicated.”

“No, Zane. It wasn't.”

I stepped closer.

“You had choices.”

“You could have told me.”

“You could have told our families.”

“You could have refused to marry her.”

I stared directly into his eyes.

“But you chose her.”

He looked away.

That tiny movement told me everything.

“I'm leaving,” I said.

His head snapped back toward me.

“Leaving where?”

“California.”

“For how long?”

I smiled faintly.

“Long enough to forget you.”

His face went pale.

“Elara, don't do this.”

“I'm already doing it.”

I turned toward my car.

This time, he didn't stop me.

When I drove away, I didn't look back.

I spent the next week tying up every loose end in San Diego.

I resigned from my unit.

I packed the few things I actually wanted to keep.

I changed my phone number.

I deleted old messages.

I stopped answering calls from people who wanted explanations.

And then I left.

Santa Barbara was nothing like home.

The ocean was calmer.

The streets were quieter.

No one knew my history.

No one knew Zane Vale.

I rented a small storefront on a quiet street and turned it into a flower shop.

For the first time in years, I built a life that belonged entirely to me.

I named the shop Wildflower.

The first morning I opened the doors, I stood outside and watched the sunlight spill across the pavement.

I had no idea what the future would bring.

But for once, I wasn't waiting for someone else to decide it for me.