---- Chapter 11 "I'm sorry," Julian whispered to the empty room. "Ember, I'm so sorry. Please, just give me one more chance." The words were useless, swallowed by the suffocating silence of the penthouse. He finally understood. His obsession with Estelle had been just that-an obsession. A ghost from his past he couldn't let go of. But Ember... Ember was his heart, his soul, the very air he breathed. And he had suffocated her. "| was going to marry you," he mumbled, rocking back and forth on the floor. "It was always you. Why didn't you believe me? Why were you so cruel as to just leave?" 1 Tears streamed down his face, blurring his vision. All he could see was her face, her gentle smile, the love in her eyes that he had taken for granted He sat there for hours, from noon until the city lights began to glitter outside the vast windows. He kept whispering his apologies, his throat growing raw and hoarse, but the only reply was the echo of his own despair. He called his assistant. "Find her. | don't care what it costs. Find Ember Tucker." "I'm sorry, Mr. Copeland," the assistant's voice was hesitant. "Your father has given explicit orders that no company ---- resources are to be used to locate Miss Tucker." He tried to leave the building, but security guards, his father's men, blocked the door. "Mr. Copeland, your father's orders. You are to remain here." He tried to fight them, but he was weak with grief. They gently but firmly escorted him back to the living room. He was a prisoner in his own home. Rage, hot and blinding, took over. He smashed a priceless vase against the wall. He tore paintings from their frames. He beat his fists against the guards, yelling at them to let him out, to tell his father he would do anything to get her back. Each time, the reply was the same. "Miss Tucker requested not to be disturbed." He felt like he was going insane. He found the liquor cabinet and started drinking, straight from the bottle. The expensive scotch burned his throat but did nothing to numb the pain. For three days, he drank, a lonely, self-destructive vigil in the ruins of his life. On the third day, Jeanette appeared at the door. He looked up, his eyes bloodshot and unfocused. For a wild, hopeful second, he thought it was Ember. He staggered to his feet. "Ember?" Jeanette gasped, shocked at his state. He was unshaven, his tuxedo was filthy and torn, and the stench of alcohol hung ---- around him like a shroud. "Brother! What's wrong with you? Estelle is waiting for you at the hospital! You need to go see her!" He saw it was only Jeanette. The hope in his eyes died, replaced by a dull, dead emptiness. He turned away and picked up another bottle. "Brother, stop it!" Jeanette cried, grabbing the bottle from his hand. "Why are you doing this to yourself?" He didn't answer, just grabbed for the bottle. He took a swig, the liquor catching in his throat, and he coughed, tears of pain and grief streaming down his face. "You're not... you're not doing this because of her, are you?" Jeanette asked, her voice full of disbelief. "Because that scarred tramp left you?" He looked at her then, his expression so full of pain that she took a step back. "Yes," he rasped. "I'm doing this for her." Jeanette laughed, a cruel, mocking sound. "Don't be ridiculous. Everyone knows you were just waiting for an excuse to be with Estelle." Julian froze. He realized, with a sickening clarity, that his preference for Estelle had been so obvious, so blatant, that everyone had seen it. Everyone except him. "You need to get out of here," Jeanette said, grabbing his arm "Come with me to the hospital. Estelle needs you." ---- He didn't resist this time. He would go to the hospital. He would end things with Estelle, once and for all. And then, somehow, he would find a way out of this gilded cage and find his Ember. Meanwhile, in her hospital room, Estelle was growing impatient. She sent a furious voice message to Jeanette. "Where is he? Why hasn't he come to see me? Did that bitch Ember do something? When you see her, | want you to make her pay! | want you to ruin her!" Julian and Jeanette were standing just outside the door. They heard every single, venomous word. Julian's eyes, once full of love and obsession for the woman in that room, turned dark and cold.