“Got divorced?” I fill in.
“That’s not happening now,” he says quickly, his eyes going wide with dread. “We’re staying together. The plans for the restaurant have nothing to do with us staying together. This is business.”
That word—business—hits me like a slap.
“This is my family’s legacy. And it’s just business to you?”
“That’s not what I meant.” He steps closer. “When we agreed to the contract, I was only thinking of one thing: Salvaging my name. Your father’s scandal nearly destroyed me in my own company. I needed something big enough to wipe my slate clean. The restaurant was the only asset important enough to do that.”
My heart free-falls, and the wounds I carry from my father’s mistakes rip open again.
Knox gazes at me, his throat working. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Maybe not,” I whisper. “Maybe you didn’t set out to hurt me, but you have. I understand what my father did to you. It was despicable, and I’m ashamed. I understand wanting to rebuild your name after he dragged yours through the mud.”
My voice splinters, but I keep going. “But how am I supposed to be okay with you tearing down a place that was a home to me? How am I supposed to accept that you made plans for your future that erases my past?”
His shoulders flinch. “Isla…”
“This restaurant isn’t just a building, Knox. It’s my grandparents’ soul. It’s my mother’s heart. It’s the only thing myfather didn’t manage to ruin. It’s the one piece of my life that still felt like mine.”
I shake my head, choking on the words. “And you… you kept me close. You asked me to stay. You made me believe we were building something real… all while hiding the one thing that could destroy me.” My voice breaks completely. “That isn’t business to me. It feels like betrayal.”
“No. Please don’t think that. I swear to God that was never my intention. I thought I could fix this before it ever touched you.” His voice cracks on that last word, but it doesn’t matter. Because I already see the truth.
“But you can’t,” I breathe. “Can you?”
He hesitates. That one second, that tiny, devastating pause, is my answer.
Knox exhales, defeated. “The board and investors… they’re invested. Invested in a way they’ve never been before. I’m supposed to take over Vale Global from my father next year.” He stops, jaw tightening. “I can’t back out now.”
There it is.
The answer.
His future on one side. My past on the other.
No bridge between them.
A numb breath escapes me. “I have to go.”
His eyes flare in panic, and he tugs on my arm. “Isla, wait?—”
“There’s nothing more to say,” I whisper. “Because the only thing that could fix this for me is the one thing you won’t do. You won’t change your plans. I know that. And I won’t beg you to.”
“Isla…” His breath falters.
“I need to go, Knox.” The words scrape out of my throat raw. “Please. Don’t follow me.”
Tension vibrates off him, the possessive, protective instinct he’s barely holding back, but he doesn’t move. He doesn’t breathe. He doesn’t argue.
Because he knows he can’t fix this with an apology or a promise or a touch.
Not this time.
He releases me.
And I turn and walk away with my heart shattering.
