Vanished After the Crash, Kneel of the CEO Chapter 07

Vanished After the Crash, Kneel of the CEO Chapter 07

The next morning, a dark shape at my door made me freeze. 

Samuel was kneeling there. Dew had soaked through his expensive suit, his hair dripping, dark circles under his eyes. 

When he saw me, his body swayed–stiff from kneeling all night. Then he slammed his forehead against the concrete. 

A dull thud. 

“Victoria, I’m sorry…” 

Samuel’s voice cracked. With shaking hands, he pulled out papers and a bank card from inside his jacket, holding them up to me like an offering. 

“This is eighty percent of everything I have in cash. I donated it all to the church back home… for the baby we lost.” 

He didn’t dare look up at me, just kept his head bowed low. “Everything else is on this card. Your birthday’s 

the PIN. I don’t want anything anymore. I just want you…” 

So he knew about the baby. Maybe he was genuinely sorry now, genuinely repentant. 

But it was too late. The second he chose her over us, it was over. 

“You think this means anything?” 

My voice was ice. I didn’t touch his blood money or care that he was groveling. 

“Money won’t bring our baby back or erase what you did. As for prayers? If you want peace for our child, keep your guilt money away from his memory. He doesn’t need a father who killed him pretending to care now.” 

Samuel went rigid. The papers shook in his hands, like I’d gutted him. 

“Take your money and get lost.” I walked past him, my voice full of exhaustion. “I don’t want to see you. Not for one second.” 

I thought seeing him would make me rage, break down. But hate takes energy I don’t have anymore. 

Now he just disgusted me. I felt nothing else. 

I didn’t want to dwell on the past anymore. I had my company, Emily, my whole future ahead. I’d already moved forward. Only he was still trapped in the past. 

I walked along the seawall. The sky opened up without warning. 

Rain blurred everything. The wet steps caught my foot wrong- 

“Ah!” 

Pain shot through my ankle as I hit the ground hard, unable to get up. 

Samuel appeared through the rain before I could even process what happened. 

“Victoria!” 

Samuel was drenched, water streaming down his face–rain or tears, I couldn’t tell. He kept saying my 

name, hands shaking as he lifted me. 

“You’re okay, you’re okay… Hospital, now. I’ve got you!” 

He was shaking like I was dying instead of just twisting my ankle. 

Emergency room. 

The doctor wrapped my ankle while Samuel hovered nearby, still soaked, looking worse than I did. 

“Just a sprain, nothing broken,” the doctor said after finishing. “Rest for a few days and you’ll be fine.” 

Samuel exhaled like he’d been holding his breath for hours. 

I watched him run around handling paperwork and prescriptions, feeling nothing but tired. 

When he came back with my prescription, I’d had enough. 

“Samuel, enough.” 

He stopped dead, looking lost. “I just want to help. 

You’re hurt…” 

“You think this fixes anything?” I stared him down, destroying every hope he had left. “No. You’re just trying to make yourself feel better. You think if you grovel enough, we can pretend none of this happened?” 

Samuel’s mouth moved but nothing came out. 

“The woman who’d cry seeing you in the rain? She drowned at Moonwatch Bluff.” My voice was soft. “The me now? I could watch you die and only worry about the cleanup.” 

Samuel staggered like I’d hit him. 

The rain stopped. Sunset bled across the sky. 

He drove me home in silence. He tried to help me to the door, still talking, “You’re hurt. You need someone to look after you these next few days. I…” 

I gripped the doorframe and met his eyes. 

“I’m moving away.” 

His head snapped up. “Where? I could…” 

“Emily’s handling my visa for Novaria.” I cut him off. 

“Better hospitals there. And Ghost has an office.” 

“I’ll come too. I’ll keep my distance, just let me know you’re alive…” Desperation made him stupid. 

“Follow me and I’ll disappear completely.” I looked at him expressionlessly. “Keep chasing me and I’ll end it 

just to spite you.” 

That broke him completely. 

His hand lifted toward my face, shaking, but stopped just short of touching me. 

Finally, he got it. Some things can’t be undone. 

He pulled back, voice cracking. “Okay. I won’t follow. Just… stay alive. That’s all I need.” 

I felt nothing. I went inside. Click. 

The lock clicked loud in the quiet. 

I slumped against the door and finally breathed. Like dropping a weight I’d carried for years. I took out my phone and sent Emily a message: 

“Is the plane ticket booked? Time to start over.” 

Outside, Samuel stood in the dying light, staring at my oor. 

I knew he was still out there, probably would be for hours. But eventually he’d understand he was stuck in this moment forever, mourning the wife and child he’d destroyed. 

And I was already free. 

THE END