Chapter 1
Rose's POV
"Rose, are you fucking INSANE? Africa? They're having an Ebola outbreak!"
I pressed the phone between my shoulder and ear, dragging my heavy suitcase through Boston Logan Airport's departure hall. The harsh afternoon sunlight streamed through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, casting mottled shadows on the ground, but it couldn't dispel the dark cloud weighing on my chest.
"Emma, just stop." I bit my lower lip, controlling the tremor in my voice. "I'm not changing my mind."
"Just because of that ASSHOLE Leonard? Jesus Christ, Rose, wake up! He's not worth—"
"I KNOW!" The words exploded out of me, causing several passing travelers to turn and stare. I took a deep breath and lowered my voice. "I know he's getting engaged. I know what kind of woman Victoria is. But..."
But knowing and seeing it with your own eyes are two completely different things.
"Honey, listen to me. You don't need to exile yourself to Africa over some guy. Leonard never gave you any promises. Why would you—"
"ENOUGH!" I was practically screaming now. "I'm not running away from anything, Emma. I'm going to save lives. I'm going to do something meaningful. People there need doctors. They need my skills."
Really? Or do I just want to run as far away as possible?
Silence stretched across the line for several seconds before Emma's voice turned gentle. "Rose, baby, you're only twenty-one..."
"I'm an adult." I hung up brutally.
I found a seat near the gate and collapsed into it. Twenty minutes until boarding—twenty minutes until I'd finally escape this suffocating place for good.
I closed my eyes, trying to slow my racing heart, but a voice from overhead made me snap them open again.
"We're now broadcasting live from the engagement ceremony of Boston's renowned medical dynasty, the Grey family..."
My blood turned to ice.
I slowly looked up, and the image on the TV screen stabbed through my heart like a blade.
Inside the magnificent Grey family mansion, crystal chandeliers sparkled brilliantly. Leonard wore a perfectly tailored black tuxedo, his back straight, his profile sculpted like marble under the lights.
Beside him stood Victoria—golden hair cascading over her shoulders like silk, her sky-blue gown making her look like an angel. A diamond necklace glittered against her elegant neck.
My hand unconsciously moved to my own throat. Nothing there.
This is the world I could never reach, isn't it?
"Dr. Leonard Grey, Boston's youngest chief of cardiac surgery, is celebrating his grand engagement at the family estate today..."
The camera switched to an interview with Victoria. Her smile was so perfect it made me sick with envy.
"Miss Victoria, could you share your feelings about this relationship?"
"Of course." Victoria's voice was soft and melodious. "Leonard is an extraordinary man. He's taught me what real love is—that deep connection built on mutual respect and shared dreams."
My hands began to shake, coffee sloshing in my cup.
Mutual respect? Shared dreams? And what about me? What was I to him?
"What do you think brought you two to this moment?"
Victoria laughed lightly. "Good love needs time to mature. This time has made us more certain that we're right for each other. Leonard knows what he truly wants now."
Time?
I gave him NINE YEARS! From age twelve to twenty-one, I gave him my entire youth, every heartbeat, every dream! And what did he give me in return?
CRASH!
The coffee cup slipped from my hands, dark liquid exploding across the floor and splashing onto my white sneakers. The scalding coffee made me gasp. Travelers around me stared and whispered.
But I just stared at the TV screen as the camera returned to the ceremony. The officiant stood before the ornately decorated altar, his expression solemn and sacred.
"Now, Leonard, please kiss your bride-to-be."
No.
No no no.
Leonard slowly turned to Victoria, his hands gently cupping her face. Those hands—the same hands that had saved my life on the operating table, that had touched my forehead when I had a fever, that had handed me tissues when I cried.
Now they were tenderly caressing another woman's cheek.
Time seemed to freeze. I watched Leonard lean down, watched his lips move toward Victoria's. Watched her close her eyes, her face blooming with happiness.
Watched the church erupt in thunderous applause and cheers.
And here I was, like an outsider, watching it all through a cold screen.
I felt like someone had ripped my heart out with their bare hands and stomped on it. My chest was hollow, echoing only with pain.
"Miss? Are you alright?"
I turned blankly to find an airline employee in uniform looking at me with concern, tissues in hand.
"I'm... I'm fine."
I mechanically took the tissues and crouched down to clean up the coffee and glass shards. Tears blurred my vision, glass fragments glinting in my trembling fingers.
Don't cry. Rose Grey, you absolutely cannot cry here.
Yes, I was a Grey—though that was just a beautiful lie.
The memory from nine years ago flooded back like a tide...
On the operating table, heart monitors shrieked alarms. I felt crushing chest pain, couldn't breathe, everything was blurry.
"Daddy! Mommy!" Twelve-year-old me was crying, reaching out trying to grab onto something.
Then a warm, large hand took mine.
"Rose, look at me." The voice was steady and gentle. "I'm Dr. Leonard. Your parents asked me to take care of you. I'll stay with you, okay?"
"Will... will you be my new daddy?"
Something flickered in those deep gray eyes, then he said softly, "I'm your godfather, Rose. I'll always protect you."
Godfather.
What an ironic word. It should have meant protection and love, but it became an unbridgeable chasm between us.
I slowly stood up and walked to an empty chair in the corner of the waiting area. The surrounding noise faded as I hugged my knees and buried my face in my arms.
For nine years, there had been only one person in my world.
The man who appeared in my darkest moment, the man who promised to always protect me, the man I loved to my very bones but could never have.
Now he was kissing another woman on TV while I sat in an airport corner like a fool.
That painful night came flooding back with crystal clarity...
"Leonard, I love you." I gathered all my courage and looked straight into his eyes.
His expression instantly turned cold. "Rose, you don't know what you're saying."
"I DO know! I'm grown up now. I know what love is!"
"No, you don't." His voice was harsh. "You're just confusing gratitude with love. I'm your godfather, Rose. Always and only your godfather."
"But I—"
"ENOUGH." He cut me off brutally, the ice in his eyes making me shiver. "I don't want to hear this nonsense again. If you're truly grateful that I saved you, then please forget these ridiculous thoughts."
In that moment, I felt like he had personally torn me to shreds.
Even now, I could still feel that bone-deep cold.
My phone buzzed frantically in my bag. I pulled it out with shaking hands—Leonard's name was flashing on the screen.
I stared at that name as tears finally broke free.
He's calling me during his engagement ceremony?
Does he want to tell me how happy he is?
Or remind me that I'll always be just an outsider?
The phone rang again and again, each ring hammering against my chest.
No.
I wouldn't listen to his voice.
I wouldn't hear whatever polite "blessing" he wanted to offer.
I wouldn't give him another chance to hurt me.
I forcefully pressed the power button, as if that could sever everything.
The screen went black. The world went quiet.
"African Airways flight AA7809 to Kinshasa is now boarding. First class and business class passengers, please proceed to the gate..."
The announcement pulled me back to reality from my pain. I wiped the tears from my face, took a deep breath, and stood up.
"Goodbye, Leonard," I whispered. "This time, I'm going to forget you completely."