Sanchez hesitated, his chest tightening under Susan's piercing gaze. The weight of his secrets bore down on him, but he knew this confrontation was inevitable.
"I never wanted to leave you, Susan," he finally said, his voice low but steady. "But after the accident, everything changed. My family was gone, the business was in chaos, and I wasn't… I wasn't the same."
Susan folded her arms, a defensive barrier against his words. "So you decided disappearing without a single word was the best solution? Do you have any idea how much I hated you? How much I hated myself for loving someone who could just vanish like that?"
"I thought I was protecting you," he admitted. "You were everything to me, Susan. But I didn't want you to be dragged into the mess that followed. There were debts, enemies, vultures circling around Cruz Oil like sharks. I couldn't risk you becoming a target."
Susan's expression faltered for a brief moment before the anger returned. "You think you were protecting me? By breaking me? Do you even know what those years were like for me, Sanchez? Watching my father work with your company, knowing you were out there somewhere but never reaching out?"
"I thought I was doing the right thing," Sanchez said, his voice breaking slightly.
"Then why does it still feel so wrong?" Susan's voice softened, her anger giving way to the vulnerability she had tried so hard to suppress.
The room fell silent again, the only sound the ticking of the antique clock on the wall. Sanchez wanted to reach out to her, to tell her everything he'd kept bottled up for years. But Susan wasn't ready to let him in, not yet.
"Let's not pretend we can fix this in one conversation," she said, stepping back toward the door. "I'm here for business, Sanchez, not nostalgia. Don't confuse the two."
And with that, she walked out, leaving Sanchez alone with the memories that haunted him.
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Chapter Four: Secrets in the Shadows
Susan leaned back against the leather seat of her car, her hands trembling as she replayed the conversation in her mind. Seeing Sanchez again had stirred emotions she had buried long ago—love, anger, longing, and a sense of loss she couldn't shake.
As the car wound through the streets of London, her phone buzzed. She glanced at the screen: a message from her father.
"Meeting at the estate tomorrow. Cruz Oil team will be there. Be prepared."
Susan sighed. Her father had always been a man of few words, but his tone left no room for argument. She had no choice but to face Sanchez again, this time in a professional setting.
The following evening, the Hopkins family estate buzzed with activity. Susan stood near the grand staircase, greeting guests and investors as they arrived. But her heart sank when she saw Sanchez walk through the door, flanked by his business advisors.
Dressed in a tailored suit, he exuded the charm and confidence that had made him a force in the corporate world. But his eyes betrayed him—they softened when they met hers, a silent acknowledgment of their shared history.
As the evening progressed, Susan did her best to avoid him, keeping herself busy with other guests. But Sanchez wasn't one to be ignored. He found her near the garden terrace, away from the crowd.
"Susan," he said, his voice low but firm.
She turned to face him, her expression guarded. "What is it, Sanchez? Another excuse? Another half-truth?"
"No," he said, stepping closer. "I just wanted to remind you that you're not the only one who's suffered. Losing you was the hardest thing I've ever endured. And if you think I'm going to let this chance slip away, you're wrong."
Susan's breath caught, but she masked her emotions with a defiant glare. "You don't get to decide that, Sanchez. You made your choice, and now I'm making mine."
"And what choice is that?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.
"To walk away from you, just like you walked away from me."
But even as she said the words, Susan felt the conflict within her. Could she truly let him go, or was there still a part of her that longed to believe in the boy she once loved?
As Sanchez watched her walk back inside, he made a silent vow. He would prove to her that leaving her was the biggest mistake of his life—and that he was willing to do whatever it took to win her back.
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