- ( Amelie's POV ) -
I didn't even give myself time to breathe.
The moment my gaze collided with Dylan's inside that café,
my entire body reacted on instinct, panic, shock, a familiar ache
I thought I'd buried years ago. I pushed myself away from the chair so fast it screeched against the floor. My heart thudded painfully as I muttered a short apology
to the barista and hurried out, pretending I had somewhere urgent to be.
I just needed to get out. Away from him. Away from the memories.
I stepped into the pavement, air cold against my skin,
and only when I was halfway across the sidewalk did I realize....
My purse.
I left it at the counter.
"Dammit, Amelie..." I whispered to myself, but I couldn't force my legs to turn back.
Not with Dylan still inside. Not with those eyes that could see straight
through all the walls I'd spent years building.
I kept walking, fast, too fast, hoping the rush of people would swallow me whole.
But fate, apparently, had other plans.
Because just as I turned the corner, someone stepped directly into my path.
"Amelie?"
Alex.
My stomach plummeted.
He looked wrecked, eyes swollen, shirt wrinkled,
hair sticking out like he'd been running his hands through it for hours.
His voice cracked the way it always did when he was desperate.
"Baby, please... listen to me."
I froze. The last thing I wanted was a scene in the middle of the sidewalk.
People walked by, curious eyes flicking toward us.
I swallowed hard. "Alex, not here."
He nodded quickly, like an obedient child. "Okay. Okay, anywhere you want."
We ended up in a small corner of Raventon Park, quiet, surrounded by trees,
an area where only the occasional jogger passed.
I stood with my arms crossed tightly, trying to hold myself together.
Alex took a shaky breath. "Amelie... what you saw... Elise was just.."
"A fling?" I snapped before he could finish.
"That's what you're going to say?"
His face crumpled. "Yes..but not like that. It wasn't serious.
I swear it wasn't love or anything deeper. We just... slept together."
I felt my throat close.
"So the sex was casual," I whispered bitterly. "Just something you needed."
He stepped closer. "I'm a man, Amelie. I have needs.
You kept saying you weren't ready, that you wanted to wait until marriage
or until you were sure. I respected that...
for a long time. But I slipped. I'm sorry. I just..."
"So because I didn't give you my body, you found someone who would?"
I said quietly.
He shut his eyes, wincing. "It wasn't like that."
"It was exactly like that."
My chest tightened painfully. I'd always been clear about my boundaries,
about wanting my first time to be something I wouldn't regret.
Maybe that was why men left.
Maybe that was why I ended up alone again and again.
Maybe that was my fault.
I forced myself to breathe.
"Alex," I said softly,
"I'm giving you the freedom you clearly want. If you can't wait,
then you shouldn't have to.
Do whatever you need to do... with whoever you want."
He shook his head frantically.
"No. NO. I don't want anyone else. I want you.
Please, Amelie, I'm begging you, we can fix this."
He reached for me, pulling me into a tight embrace before I could stop him.
His arms locked around me like he was afraid I'd disappear.
"Let go," I hissed, trying to push him away.
"Please... don't leave me."
"I said let go!"
But he held tighter, almost desperate, and panic surged through me..
Then someone grabbed Alex by the collar.
A sharp yank. A hard push.
Alex stumbled back, barely catching his footing.
"Don't force yourself on a woman who clearly doesn't want you."
That voice.
Low. Rough. Calm, yet edged with warning.
My chest constricted as I turned.
Dylan.
His jaw was clenched, eyes cold, posture protective but distant.
A version of him I barely recognized and yet knew far too well.
He didn't even look at me, just at Alex, as he muttered,
"Some men know how to take 'no.' Clearly, you're not one of them."
Alex glared. "Who the hell are you?"
Without shifting his expression, Dylan replied,
"Someone with functioning ears. She said let go."
But before anything escalated, I stepped between them.
"That's enough," I snapped. "Alex, go. This conversation is over."
Alex swallowed, looked from me to Dylan, and back again.
His expression was a mix of shame and defeat.
"Okay... okay. I'll give you space. But Amelie...
please don't shut me out completely."
He walked away without waiting for my answer.
Silence settled between me and Dylan, thick and awkward.
I finally forced myself to meet his eyes.
"Thank you... for stepping in." My voice was barely above a whisper.
"But you didn't have to."
His eyebrow lifted, unimpressed.
"I didn't come here to save you. Don't be so assuming.."
"Then why...?"
He extended something toward me.
My purse.
"You left this at the counter," he said flatly.
"I figured you'd notice eventually."
Heat rushed to my cheeks.
"Oh," I muttered, feeling incredibly small.
"Right. Thank you."
He shrugged with that infuriating calm.
"Next time, try leaving the drama, not your belongings."
I blinked. "Excuse me?"
"That guy was loud enough.
I thought you dropped the purse while running from embarrassment."
I stared at him.
He stared back, bored.
Then he added,
"And you're welcome. I guess."
Then he turned and walked away without another glance.
I let out a frustrated groan the moment his back disappeared behind the trees.
"Why him?" I muttered under my breath.
"Of all the people I could bump into... why him? Why now?"
And worse... how much had he heard?
Because the thought alone made my stomach twist.
Great. Just perfect.
By evening of the next day, Marie arrived in Santa Catalina like a storm..
hair messy from the trip, her suitcase rolling behind her
as she barged straight into the noodle house.
"Girl!" she shouted, arms open wide. "I'm here to save your life!"
I didn't even get to reply before she crushed me in a hug.
Then, without wasting another second, she launched into her mission.
She laid out the offer again, Elijah Chen, Zurich-based neurosurgeon,
needs a fake wife before the inheritance handover.
A contract marriage. High-profile. Confidential. And the payment?
Enough to wipe out every debt we had ever cried about.
Enough to give my mother the treatments she deserved.
Enough for Sam's entire education.
I tried resisting. I really did.
But reality was merciless.
Within two hours, Marie had persuaded me, cornered me emotionally,
then pulled out the contract.
My hands trembled as I signed it. "I can't believe I'm doing this."
"You are," Marie said, sealing the papers. "And you're going to slay it."
Later that night, I told her everything that happened in Raventon..
Dylan, Alex, the purse, the park... everything.
Her reaction?
She grabbed her bag and bolted out the door.
"I'm going to that café," she said.
"I want to see that Dylan person myself."
I tried to stop her, but she was already gone.
An hour later, she called me, breathless, gossip-brimming.
"GIRL. Café Bulle De Ciel? Guess what?"
"What?"
"That Dylan?
The one who swooped into your drama like some grumpy K-drama lead?"
She paused for suspense. "He OWNS the café."
My heart dropped. "What?"
"Yep. The staff said he dropped by earlier but left before I arrived.
And oh my God, Amelie... he's loaded."
I sank into my bed, overwhelmed. "Why is the universe doing this to me?"
Marie squealed on the other end. "Because it loves drama, duh."
Two days later, I was no longer Amelie Mitchell.
I was Sophia Redford.
My passport, IDs, profile, everything had been arranged.
Marie handled it with terrifying efficiency.
And now... I stood at the grand iron gates of Alderidge Heights,
the Chen family's ancestral mansion.
Cold wind brushed against my skin as the driver unloaded my suitcase.
The estate loomed before me, vast, elegant, intimidating.
Chandeliers glowed behind tall glass windows.
The air felt different here... heavier, sharper.
This was the beginning.
My first day pretending to be someone else.
My first day as the future "wife" of Elijah Chen.
My first step into a life I had no idea how to survive.
I tightened my grip on my suitcase, swallowed the fear, and whispered to myself...
"Here goes nothing."