Adrian stared at me.

“Grayhaven?”

For the first time that day, something disturbed his calm expression.

“You told me you’d never go back there.”

“I changed my mind.”

His jaw tightened.

“Because of him?”

I paused.

So Adrian remembered.

Five years ago, when my father ordered me to replace Lily as Adrian’s fiancée, there had been someone waiting for me in Grayhaven.

Nathan Cole.

My childhood friend.

My first love.

And the man I had promised to marry.

The night before I left, Nathan stood at the train station in the rain and asked me one question.

“If I ask you to stay, will you?”

I wanted to say yes.

Instead, I boarded the train.

For five years, I never returned.

Adrian’s voice pulled me back.

“Is Cole still there?”

“I don’t know.”

That was the truth.

Adrian gave a strange laugh.

“So that’s it? Lily returns, and suddenly you remember an old lover?”

I looked at him.

“Isn’t that exactly what you did?”

His face hardened.

“That’s different.”

“Of course.”

I turned to leave.

This time, Adrian caught my wrist.

“Elena.”

I looked down at his hand.

He slowly released me.

“You’re still my fiancée until the wedding.”

“No, General Pierce.”

I removed the engagement ring from my finger and placed it in his palm.

“You ended that yourself.”

Then I walked away.

That evening, I returned to the Bennett house.

My father was furious.

Lily was sitting beside him wearing the diamond necklace Adrian had given me two years earlier.

Apparently, she had already started reclaiming everything she believed belonged to her.

Father slammed his hand against the table.

“You embarrassed General Pierce today.”

“I followed his instructions.”

“You should be grateful! After Lily marries him, Adrian is still willing to support you.”

I almost laughed.

“I don’t need his support.”

Lily finally spoke.

“Elena, don’t be difficult.”

She touched the necklace.

“Adrian feels guilty about you. If you disappear suddenly, people may blame him.”

“So?”

“So stay until after our wedding.”

I looked at her.

There it was.

Not kindness.

Fear.

She needed me nearby so everyone could see that I accepted my replacement quietly.

I stood.

“I leave for Grayhaven tomorrow morning.”

Lily’s expression changed.

Father shouted my name.

But I was already walking upstairs.

At dawn, I took one suitcase and the old teddy bear Adrian had returned to me.

Nothing else.

At 7:10, my train left the capital.

At 7:13, Adrian called.

I declined.

He called again.

Then came a message.

Come back. We need to talk.

I switched off my phone.

Grayhaven appeared through the train window four hours later.

The city looked smaller than I remembered.

I went directly to the old house where Nathan had lived.

But another family answered the door.

“Nathan Cole?” the woman repeated.

“He hasn’t lived here for years.”

My heart sank.

“Do you know where he went?”

She pointed toward the harbor.

“You really don’t know?”

I shook my head.

Her expression became strange.

“Everyone in Grayhaven knows Nathan Cole.”

Twenty minutes later, I stood outside a massive government building overlooking the harbor.

Armed guards controlled the entrance.

A black military vehicle stopped beside me.

Several officers stepped out.

Then the rear door opened.

A man in a dark uniform emerged.

Broad shoulders.

A thin scar near his eyebrow.

Older.

Colder.

But unmistakable.

Nathan.

My breath stopped.

Five years ago, he had been a junior officer with nothing except ambition and a promise to wait for me.

Now every soldier around him stood at attention.

Nathan saw me.

His footsteps stopped.

Neither of us spoke.

Finally, his eyes dropped to the teddy bear in my arms.

He recognized it immediately.

“You kept it.”

My throat tightened.

“You gave it to me.”

His expression revealed nothing.

“And General Pierce?”

“He’s marrying Lily.”

Nathan looked away.

“So you came back because he discarded you.”

“No.”

His eyes returned to mine.

“I came back because five years ago, I made the wrong choice.”

For one second, something cracked behind his cold expression.

Then an officer hurried toward him.

“Commander Cole, the delegation is waiting.”

Commander.

I stared at Nathan.

He had risen far higher than I had imagined.

Nathan took two steps toward his vehicle before stopping.

“Elena.”

“Yes?”

“If you’re here because you expect the man from five years ago to still be waiting…”

He turned toward me.

“…that man doesn’t exist anymore.”

Then he got into the vehicle.

I stood frozen as it disappeared through the gates.

My phone suddenly powered back on.

Thirty-two missed calls.

Most were from Adrian.

Then a message arrived from Lily.

It contained a photograph.

Adrian was standing in his office, still wearing his general’s uniform.

In his hand was the engagement ring I had returned.

Lily’s message contained only one sentence:

What did you do to him? He just postponed our wedding.

Before I could respond, another message appeared.

This one was from Adrian.

Don’t go near Nathan Cole.

Then another.

Elena, you don’t know who he really is.

I stared toward the gates Nathan had disappeared behind.

And then Adrian sent one final message.

A photograph taken only minutes earlier.

It showed Nathan meeting three senior military officials.

Underneath, Adrian had written:

He’s the reason I was promoted.