Chapter Thirty-One Imani
It feels like the world has imploded around me.
Every channel, every notification, every news alert – it’s all Peregrine Airways.
The headlines are screaming about fraud investigations, shareholder outrage, potential criminal charges.
Photos of my father looking like he’s aged twenty years overnight, paired with grainy shots of me from some event months ago, are slapped under dramatic headlines like THE FALL OF AN EMPIRE.
My phone hasn’t stopped vibrating since the news broke.
Everyone wants to know what the hell is going on and what’s going to happen to the company, and I don’t know how to tell them that I don’t know.
I haven’t spoken to my father since hanging up on his call in the Seychelles, and I have no plans on doing so any time soon.
I meant what I said when I told him that this wasn’t my fault and it wasn’t my problem to fix.
Still, the guilt settles in anyway.
Peregrine Airways has been looming over me since the day I was born and now I’m just… what? Walking away from it? Turning my back on it while it crashes and burns around me?
The thought unsettles me more than I want to admit.
Peregrine Airways has always been the constant force in my life.
It’s been my family’s legacy, my safety net, and my cage.
Without it, I don’t really know who I am.
But even beneath the flash of panic that’s started to spark up inside me, I can’t pretend that I don’t feel a flicker of relief.
I’ve always had money, connections and comfort, but I’ve never really had a choice. Every decision I’ve made has come with strings attached. Now, for once, there’s nothing tying me down.
I have no idea what I’m going to do with this new-found freedom, but I do know that I’m not going to waste it.
My phone vibrates again. I glance down and the notification that pops up on the screen brings an automatic smile to my face.
Asher
I’m downstairs. Can you buzz me up?
I immediately run to the door and hit the button to let him in. By the time he reaches my floor, my heart’s already doing its best impression of a drumline. I pull open the door before he even has a chance to knock.
He looks tired. Exhausted, even. For a split second I wonder if he’s changed his mind.
About me. About all of this. Maybe the news cycle finally caught up with him and he’s realised hitching himself to a sinking legacy isn’t as appealing when you’re not contractually obligated to do it.
But then his eyes find mine and suddenly some of the tension drains out of him.
His jaw unclenches, his shoulders drop, and there’s this tiny, barely-there smile that tugs at the corner of his mouth.
Like just seeing me is enough to convince him that none of the rest of the bullshit matters for a little while.
I step back, and he steps in.
He takes one look at the little cocoon of blankets I’ve made on the sofa, my laptop open on the coffee table with about a million tabs open, and raises a brow. ‘You okay?’
‘As good as I can be, given the circumstances,’ I say with a shrug. ‘Are you?’
He matches my shrug with one of his own. ‘I think so.’ Then he nods assuredly. ‘Yeah, actually. I am. I just left my father’s office for the last time.’
I frown. ‘What do you mean?’
‘After twenty minutes straight of him ranting and raving, I suddenly realised that I just don’t care anymore. So, I’m done. With him. With Vouvalis Resorts. With all of it.’
I blink, stunned. ‘You’re done?’
‘Done,’ he says again, firmer this time. ‘I told him I’m walking away.’
I stare at him like he’s speaking another language. ‘Asher, that’s… that’s your entire life. Your family’s company. You’re really willing to throw all of that away?’ And maybe I’m being presumptuous, but the way he’s looking at me makes me think I’m not, so I add, ‘For me?’
Asher doesn’t hesitate. ‘I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.’
My chest tightens, somehow painfully and beautifully all at once. I take a small step closer to him. ‘So, what happens now? You go live your life, and I figure out what’s left of mine?’
He tilts his head, brows furrowing ever so slightly. ‘Do you want me to leave?’
I swallow hard and shake my head. ‘No.’
‘Good,’ he says with a soft smile. He reaches out and pulls me into him. ‘Because I’m not going anywhere.’
Before I can respond, he closes the distance between us.
His hand finds mine and he threads our fingers together.
We fit, perfectly. ‘I meant what I said, Imani,’ he murmurs.
‘About proposing to you one day. On our terms. When we’re ready.
Being with you these last few months has been amazing – and if it’s only a snapshot of what getting to love you is like, I can’t imagine what being able to love you out loud is going to be like. And I can’t wait.’
My eyes burn with the threat of tears. ‘You know this is going to be a mess, right? The company’s collapsing. My dad’s probably going to be indicted—’
‘Mine too,’ Asher says, sounding almost pleased.
‘What?’ I ask. ‘What the hell?’
He shrugs. ‘I don’t know any of the details, but apparently he’s on the NCA’s radar. It’s only a matter of time. He’s going to get what he deserves.’
‘Wow,’ I say. Asher doesn’t look at all bothered by the fact that his father might soon be behind bars, and I can’t say that I blame him. But still…‘You know there’s a very real chance that I might actually be broke once this has all settled.’
Asher smiles faintly. ‘Then we’ll be broke together.’
The laugh that bursts out of me is loud and helpless and a little hysterical. When I finally catch my breath, I look at him and the warmth in his eyes feels like sunlight after weeks of rain.
It’s too much. The way he looks at me is just too much.
‘I love you,’ I blurt out, almost choking on the words. My heart is beating so loud and fast, it’s got to be audible from the next building over. ‘I love you, Asher.’
He goes still for half a second, and then the smile that breaks over his face is so beautiful it almost hurts to look at. ‘I love you, too.’
And then he’s kissing me.
My heart stutters in my chest. My knees threaten to buckle. I cling to him and let myself fall, because I know he’s not going to let go.
It’s strange how the whole world can be falling apart around me and still somehow feel like everything is finally slotting into place.
Outside, everything’s chaos. Headlines, outrage, the slow-motion collapse of an empire. But here, in my apartment, the only thing that matters is Asher.
When he finally pulls back, he rests his forehead against mine. ‘We’ll figure it out,’ he murmurs. ‘All of it. The mess, the future, and whatever comes next, we’ll do it together.’
Somehow, that’s the first thing I’ve heard all day that makes sense. Maybe Peregrine Airways has gone. Maybe everything safe and certain in my life has essentially been burned to the ground. But as he wraps me up in his arms, I realise it doesn’t feel like an ending. Not really.
It feels like a beginning.
@TrustFundTea
Looks like love really does rise from the ashes… or should we say, from the wreckage of an airline empire?
Spotted last night in Mayfair: none other than Imani Davies, former Peregrine Airways princess turned headline fixture, and Asher Vouvalis.
But here’s the twist – there was no cold shoulder and no fighting this time. Nope. These two were holding hands, laughing, and, wait for it… kissing. In public. It’s a far cry from their drama-filled antics just a few months ago.
Weeks after the collapse that tanked her family’s company, Davies looks positively glowing. New chapter? New love?
You know the drill. If anyone’s got pics or tea from last night, you know where to find me
xoxo,
TFT