---- Chapter 17 Thousands of miles away, in a sterile New York City boardroom, Ethan Cole stared blankly at a projection of quarterly earnings. The numbers were good. Cole & Vance Global was thriving. But Ethan felt... empty. His thoughts kept drifting. Not to Isabella, who was now a distant, bitter memory. But to Mia. Mia, who had always been there, a quiet, constant presence in his life. Mia, who had absorbed his moods, his cruelties, his casual disregard, with a resilience he' d mistaken for weakness. Mia, who was now... gone. He remembered her in the early days, her quiet intensity, the way she'd look at him, a silent adoration in her eyes that he' d taken for granted, exploited. He remembered her small, thoughtful gestures. The coffee just the way he liked it. The way she could anticipate his needs before he even voiced them. ---- He' d been so sure she' d always be there. A fixture. A possession. Her sudden, complete disappearance had shaken him to his core. It was like a phantom limb, an ache for something he hadn't realized was essential until it was amputated. "Ethan? Are you with us?" His father' s voice, sharp, impatient, cut through his reverie. The board members looked at him, their expressions a mixture of concern and annoyance. He' d been distracted for months. Unfocused. Irritable. "Sorry," he mumbled, running a hand through his already disheveled hair. "Lost my train of thought." His father sighed, a sound of profound disappointment. The meeting dragged on. Deals were discussed. Strategies formulated. Ethan nodded in the right places, made the appropriate noises. But his mind was elsewhere. Upstate New York. A small diner. A woman with sad eyes and a strength he' d never acknowledged. He abruptly stood up. "I... | have to go." ---- The room fell silent. "Ethan, we' re in the middle of a crucial discussion," his father said, his voice dangerously low. "| know," Ethan said. "But this... this can' t wait." He walked out of the boardroom, leaving a stunned silence in his wake. His assistant, a nervous young man named David, scurried after him. "Mr. Cole? Is everything alright?" "No, David," Ethan said, his voice raw. "Nothing is alright." He felt a strange, uncharacteristic burning behind his eyes. Tears? He hadn't cried since he was a child. He had to find her. He had to make things right. He' d been a fool. A cruel, arrogant fool. He would apologize. He would beg, if necessary. He would cut Isabella out of his life completely, finally. He' d already started that process, the legalities were messy but progressing. He would prove to Mia that he could change. That he could be the man she deserved. ---- It wasn' t too late. It couldn' t be.