---- Chapter 7 The taxi sped away from the hotel. Amelia leaned her head back, closing her eyes. Ethan' s questions, his sudden interest in her past feelings, were unsettling. She had almost reached the finish line, her new life just days away. She couldn' t let him derail her now. A black SUV, Ethan' s, pulled up beside the cab at a red light. He rolled down the window. "Amelia, get in. We need to talk." His voice was not a request, but a command. The cab driver looked at her, then at Ethan, then back at her, clearly intimidated. "Ma'am?" Amelia sighed. A public scene was the last thing she wanted. "Fine," she said, more to herself than to him. She paid the cabbie and reluctantly got out. She slid into the passenger seat of Ethan' s SUV. The familiar scent of expensive leather and his subtle cologne filled her nostrils. ---- He pulled away from the curb, driving aimlessly through the city streets. The silence in the car was thick, charged with unspoken words. Amelia stared out the window, watching the city lights blur by, refusing to look at him. She would not engage. She would not be drawn back into his orbit. Ethan finally broke the silence, his voice tight. "So, this divorce," he began, "you're really going through with it? No second thoughts? No last-minute pleas?" He still couldn't quite believe it. He expected her to break, to admit this was all a ploy. Amelia turned to him, her expression calm, almost serene. "Ethan," she said, her voice even, "in exactly six days, our divorce will be final. | have never been more certain of anything in my life." Her conviction, her utter lack of doubt, seemed to deflate him. His phone rang, shattering the tense atmosphere. Jessica' s ringtone. He glanced at the screen, his jaw tightening. He ignored it. It rang again, insistent. ---- He swore under his breath and answered, his voice clipped. "What is it, Jessica? I'm busy." Jessica' s voice, frantic and tearful, crackled through the speaker. "Ethan! Oh, Ethan, you have to help me! He's here! He's going to hurt me!" Ethan' s demeanor changed instantly. "Who, Jess? Who's there? Where are you?" He swerved the car, making a sharp U-turn, tires screeching. Amelia was thrown against the door. 'I'm at the old warehouse district, by the pier! He followed me! Please, Ethan, hurry!" Jessica sobbed. Ethan accelerated, driving recklessly, his face a mask of grim concern. Amelia, once again, was forgotten, a reluctant passenger in his drama. Amelia followed Ethan as he sprinted towards a dimly lit warehouse. The scene inside was... theatrical. Jessica stood in the center of a circle of flickering candles, a profusion of red roses scattered at her feet. A young man, handsome but with a wild, desperate look in his eyes, knelt before her, holding a single rose. ---- The moment Jessica saw Ethan, her expression shifted from feigned fear to theatrical distress. "Ethan!" she cried, rushing towards him, stumbling artfully. "Oh, thank God you're here! He's crazy! He won't leave me alone!" She buried her face in Ethan' s chest, sobbing. The young man, clearly bewildered by this turn of events, stood up, his face flushed. "Jessica? | just wanted to talk to you," he said, his voice pleading. "| love you." The young man, whose name Amelia vaguely recalled as David, turned to Ethan, his eyes flashing with a desperate anger. "And you!" he spat, pointing at Ethan. "Who are you to judge me? You forced Amelia into a marriage she didn't want! You parade your mistress around while your wife suffers! You're no better than me! At least my feelings are genuine!" His words, raw and accusatory, hit a nerve. Ethan' s face darkened. "Get out," he growled. "Before | call the cops." Ethan pushed Jessica gently behind him. "This marriage, this life... it was a cage, Amelia," he said, his voice low, directed at her but loud enough for David to hear. "Jessica is the only woman I've ever truly loved. | would do anything for her." ---- Amelia flinched. A cage. That' s what she had been to him. His words, meant to justify himself to David, were a fresh stab to her already wounded heart. She had known, of course. But hearing him say it so plainly... David, enraged by Jessica' s continued rejection and Ethan' s dismissive arrogance, seemed to snap. He pulled a small, wicked-looking knife from his pocket. "If | can't have you, Jessica," he hissed, his eyes wild, "then no one willl" He lunged towards Jessica. Amelia screamed, a pure, instinctive sound of warning. Ethan reacted instantly, shoving Jessica aside. He moved to intercept David, shielding Jessica with his own body. The knife arced. Ethan cried out, a sharp gasp of pain, as the blade sliced across his arm. It wasn't deep, more a superficial scratch, but blood welled instantly, bright red against his white shirt. David, horrified by his own actions, dropped the knife and stumbled back. ---- Jessica screamed, a high-pitched, theatrical sound.