Chapter 5 #2
“I’m sure… we’ll meet again in my next life.”
Her lashes lowered as she pressed her palm more firmly against the stone, as if trying to hold on just a little longer.
“Thank you for uniting me with the love of my life.”
A faint, bittersweet smile flickered across her lips—barely there, but real.
“No one else understood… not a single person… how much I liked Elias. Not even him.”
Her lashes fluttered as she kept her gaze lowered.
“But you knew.”
Her shoulders trembled once.
“But you saw it… even when I never exactly told you.”
The wind moved gently through the cemetery, brushing against her hair as she continued in a quieter voice.
“You were the first to notice.”
Her breath shook faintly.
“Thank you for giving me the chance to love him…”
A pause.
“And now…”
Her hand slowly slid down the gravestone.
“You’re here… to witness the ending of it too.”
Her eyes lowered completely.
Her voice dropped into something even softer, almost disappearing into the wind.
“I’ll go back to where I belong now.”
For a moment, she stayed like that—kneeling, unmoving, as if the world had paused around her.
Then, slowly, she pushed herself upright.
Her fingers lingered on the stone for one last second before she let go.
She stood carefully, smoothing the fabric of her dress with trembling fingers.
She took one last look at the name carved into stone before taking a step back.
Then another.
And finally she turned fully, walking back through the cemetery with quiet, measured steps. She disappeared through the crowd to meet her parents before leaving the cemetery.
It wasn’t until much later, after making sure her parents had returned home safely, that Amara finally stepped out alone onto the road outside.
Meanwhile, Elias had remained behind. As the last of the guests left, he stood with composed restraint, exchanging brief, respectful nods as each person departed.
Only when the cemetery finally emptied—silence settling over the graves like a heavy blanket—did he move.
Elias stepped out of the cemetery with Felix walking just behind him. The faint rustle of their black coats was the only sound against the stillness of the trees.
They passed out of the shadowed path between the graves, the light from the open entrance gradually spilling over them.
The air outside was colder.
And that was when Felix suddenly slowed. His eyes caught something ahead and his expression shifted immediately. His attention locked in.
Amara stood close to Jasper beside a black car, the distance between them small enough to feel personal rather than professional. She held a few papers in her hands, her fingers lightly gripping the edges as the pages shifted slightly in the wind.
Jasper stood beside her, leaning slightly in, one hand raised as he pointed at a specific line on the document.
Amara’s hair shifted with the movement as she leaned in just slightly, studying the papers with focused attention. Jasper spoke quietly, and she responded with a small nod, turning the page with careful precision.
There was no distance between them that suggested formality.
Only ease.
Familiarity.
Elias stopped walking when Felix suddenly came to a halt. His eyes followed Felix’s line of sight—and only then did he see them.
The change in him was immediate. His steps froze completely. The calm composure on his face darkened. His jaw clenched as his gaze locked onto Jasper’s hand near Amara.
A pause stretched between him and the scene ahead.
Then, in a low voice, Elias spoke.
“Who is that manchild?”
Felix visibly stiffened at the tone.
His eyes flicked toward Elias quickly, surprise flashing across his face at the sharpness of the question.
He stepped slightly closer, lowering his voice as if careful not to disturb the moment further.
“Mr. Creed… that’s Mr. Jasper Frost.”
A pause.
“One of the bosses of Frost Industries.”
Elias didn’t look away from Amara and Jasper for even a single moment. His eyes remained fixed on the two of them.
“The real estate business?”
Felix nodded once.
“Yes.”
Then he added carefully, sensing the shift in Elias’s mood.
“He holds the largest share, but his two brothers also hold a significant amount.”
“How does he know Amara?” Elias asked sharply.
His eyes narrowed as he fixed his gaze on Jasper and Amara standing together.
His expression tightened, confusion flashing briefly before hardening into suspicion.
They stood too close—too comfortable—like they had known each other for a long time.
Jasper pointed at something on the page, leaning in just enough that his shoulder nearly brushed Amara’s.
Amara followed his finger carefully, her expression focused.
Elias’s jaw tightened.
His fingers curled at his side before slowly relaxing again, like he was forcing himself not to move.
Felix stepped slightly closer to him, lowering his voice.
“As far as I’m aware… Mr. Creed, I don’t think she ever mentioned any connection with Mr. Frost. She didn’t say anything about knowing him in the past, did she?”
Elias snapped his head toward him instantly. His glare was sharp enough to make Felix stiffen on the spot.
Felix immediately forced a strained smile.
“I-I only asked… because you’re married to her, Mr. Creed. That’s all.”
Elias’s glare lingered on him for a second longer, heavy enough to make Felix feel suffocated before he finally turned his gaze back to Amara.
Jasper said something that made Amara glance up briefly, a faint smile touching her lips.
That small moment—the effortless ease between them—was what snapped something inside Elias.
His expression darkened further.
“Three months,” Elias said, his voice tightening. “We haven’t seen each other for three goddamn months.”
He took a step forward without realizing it, eyes locked on them.
“She says she loves me,” he continued, bitterness slipping through his restraint, “but she hasn’t even looked at me properly for one goddamn minute.”
His gaze flicked briefly to Amara’s face. She was still standing there with Jasper. Still listening. Still present—but not with him.
Elias exhaled sharply through his nose. His voice rose, anger finally breaking through.
“And when I didn’t come home last night,” he added coldly, “she didn’t even care. She used to call me a hundred times every goddamn night. What the hell changed in three months?”
His hand lifted slightly, pointing toward Amara before dropping again, as if he was forcing himself not to react further.
“Now she acts like I don’t exist?” His jaw clenched. “Suddenly she’s this—this indifferent woman who doesn’t give a damn about her husband?”
Felix hesitated, watching his face carefully.
Before he could respond—
Elias’s hand dropped sharply, and he dragged it through his hair in agitation before shoving it back into his pocket. His other hand remained half-lifted, tense in the air as if he couldn’t decide whether to restrain himself or explode.
Something in Elias’s expression finally cracked through the restraint.
“Where are the divorce papers I asked you to bring?” he snapped at Felix without looking away from Amara.
Felix hurriedly opened his bag, fingers fumbling for a second before pulling out a thick stack of documents.
He stepped forward and raised his voice deliberately so it carried across the space.
“Here are the divorce papers, Mr. Creed. As requested, the alimony has been set at one hundred million dollars.”
Both Jasper and Amara turned toward the sound.
That’s when Amara finally noticed them.
Elias didn’t move. He simply watched her.
Amara said something quietly to Jasper, and Jasper handed her the documents that they were looking through. Then he stepped back slightly, giving her the space to walk away.
The moment Elias saw Amara approaching him, the look in his eyes turned even colder.
His sharp gaze remained fixed on her the entire time she walked toward him until she finally stopped right in front of him.
He looked down at her arrogantly before extending the documents in his hand toward her without hesitation.
“You wanted a divorce?” he asked coldly.
The corners of his lips lifted faintly, but there was no warmth in the expression.
“Fine. Here it is.”
He lightly shook the papers between his fingers before holding them closer toward her.
“I already prepared everything.” His voice was calm and detached, as if they were discussing business instead of their divorce. “You don’t need to worry about anything except signing your name on these papers.”
Then his eyes darkened slightly.
“One hundred million dollars for one year of marriage,” he added mockingly. “That should be more than enough to make you happy, don’t you think?”
Amara remained completely still.
She didn’t even glance at the papers he was offering her.
Elias frowned faintly.
His fingers loosened slightly around the documents, clearly expecting her to take them.
But Amara made no move at all.
The papers slipped from his hand one by one and scattered across the ground between them as the wind lightly brushed across the cemetery.
Amara didn’t lower herself to pick them up.
Her eyes merely dropped briefly toward the papers on the ground before she slowly lifted her gaze back to his face again.
Then, she raised the documents in her own hand and slapped them hard against his chest and he caught them instinctively.
“I already prepared the divorce papers too,” she said while staring directly into his eyes. “I was too impatient to wait for you to finish yours.”
Elias’s expression darkened instantly.
Amara didn’t give him a chance to interrupt. Her voice remained terrifyingly calm.
“Five hundred million dollars for one year of nominal marriage. That should make you happy enough.”
Elias’s hands roughly tightened around the papers against his chest. A cold scoff escaped him as disbelief flashed across his face.
“Five hundred million? A nominal marriage?” he scoffed in disbelief.
His jaw tightened as he flipped through the papers aggressively.