---- Chapter 16 Chapter 16 Aimee Ramirez POV: The documents Kyle gave me were an earthquake. | handed them over to the District Attorney's office, and the fallout was swift and brutal. Karma Wells and her entire family were arrested, their con artistry exposed in a series of screaming headlines. The charges were extensive: fraud, embezzlement, conspiracy. They were facing decades in prison. The news brought me no joy. The final piece of my revenge had been handed to me by the man | had sought to destroy. The victory felt hollow, tainted. | tried to find him. | hired the best private investigator in the country. "| want to know where he is," | commanded. "I don't want him contacted. | just want to know that he's... okay." The investigator's report came back a week later. Kyle had vanished. He had left the city, leaving no forwarding address, no paper trail. He had taken a bus to a small, forgotten town in the Midwest and disappeared. He had effectively ceased to exist. The emptiness he left behind was a gaping wound. My obsession had been a shield, a purpose. Without it, | was forced to confront the wreckage of my own heart. ---- Anderson was patient, kind, a rock in the swirling chaos of my emotions. He proposed to me on a beautiful autumn evening, a perfect diamond ring in a velvet box. "| love you, Aimee," he said, his eyes full of a sincere, uncomplicated devotion. "Let me help you heal. Let's build a future together." | looked at this good, decent man, offering me everything | should have wanted: a life of peace, stability, and love. And | knew | couldn't accept. "lcan't," | whispered, tears streaming down my face. "I'm sorry, Anderson. I'm just... not ready." He looked at me, his expression full of a sad understanding. "It's him, isn't it? Even now, he's still with you." | couldn't deny it. Kyle was gone, but his ghost was everywhere. He was the wound that wouldn't close, the question | couldn't answer. | broke off the engagement. Anderson and | remained friends, business partners, but the spark of what might have been was extinguished. | threw myself into my work, building Ramirez Industries into a global powerhouse. | was more successful, more powerful, more respected than | had ever dreamed. And | had never been more alone.