Amara had always prided herself on being a woman of strength. After all, she'd spent years building her career and overcoming heartaches that had once seemed insurmountable. She had resolved never to be vulnerable again, not after what had happened in her past. So, when her heart began to shift toward Noah, she pushed it down. She told herself that this deal they had—this faux engagement—was nothing more than a means to an end. He wanted her help, and she needed him to get a foothold in her professional goals. It was supposed to be simple.
But then Clara entered the picture.
When Amara had met Clara, she had assumed that the tension between them was merely the result of a woman scorned—someone from Noah's past who wasn't quite ready to let go. But that first meeting had sparked something inside her. The doubt Clara planted in her mind was insidious, sneaking its way into the cracks of the walls she had so carefully built around herself. The woman had been calm, collected, and unnervingly certain about her feelings for Noah. And now, every time Amara saw Noah, she couldn't shake the memory of Clara's words.
As she sat in her office, working diligently to avoid letting her thoughts drift, her mind wandered back to the conversation she'd had with Noah earlier in the day. The heated moments they had shared were slowly building to something more, yet Amara remained afraid. The truth was that Clara's insinuations were beginning to hurt, gnawing at her trust. She wanted to believe Noah, but every time she thought of his ex, something twisted inside her.
She glanced at her phone—messages from Noah asking how her day had been. He was reaching out, trying to bridge the widening gap between them. But all she could think of was Clara's mocking tone and the way she had implied that Noah was just using Amara as a placeholder.
"Enough," she muttered to herself, standing up abruptly. She couldn't keep ignoring the fact that something was off. Something in her was resisting this growing connection with Noah. And no matter how much she wanted to pretend otherwise, she knew it wasn't just her job or her history that held her back—it was fear.
That evening, after another long day in the office, Amara decided to pay Noah a visit. Perhaps seeing him in person would allow her to make sense of the chaos in her heart. Her legs carried her down the familiar path to his apartment, her thoughts a swirling mixture of hope and fear.
Noah opened the door to her knock, his smile wide and genuine as always. "Amara! I wasn't expecting you."
"I know, I didn't want to interrupt anything," she said softly, stepping inside as he ushered her in. She noted how comfortable his place felt—everything was in its place, organized, yet there was an undeniable warmth in the atmosphere.
Noah smiled as he closed the door behind her. "You've never interrupted anything. What's on your mind?"
Amara looked around, taking in the familiarity of his home. "I've been thinking a lot," she began, hesitant. "About Clara."
Noah's expression hardened slightly. "What about her?"
"I just… I can't help but feel like she's been right about a lot of things."
He raised an eyebrow, walking toward the kitchen. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Do you remember what she said about you and your past?" Amara asked, following him as he pulled out a bottle of wine. "She said that you don't really want a future with me, that I'm just a temporary solution."
Noah froze, the wine bottle in his hand. "Amara…"
"I don't know if I can just ignore that," she said, her voice thick with emotion. "I don't know if I can pretend that everything is fine when she's planted that seed of doubt."
He sighed heavily, his shoulders tense. "Listen to me, Amara," he began, his voice calm but firm. "What Clara said isn't true. She's still holding onto the past, and she's trying to drag you into it."
"But why would she say something like that? Why would she want to hurt me?" Amara's voice shook with frustration. She crossed her arms, trying to hold herself together.
"Because she doesn't want to see me move on," Noah answered softly. "She's not over our past, and she's not happy that I've found someone else. But Amara, you're not just someone else. You mean everything to me."
Amara swallowed hard. She could see the sincerity in his eyes, but the nagging doubt still lingered. "You can't expect me to just trust you without any proof," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Especially when I'm being told that you're going to leave me in the end."
Noah stepped forward, his hand reaching for hers. "I'm not leaving you. I'm not going anywhere. I'm here for you—no matter what."
The warmth of his touch seeped through her, and for a moment, Amara allowed herself to lean into it, to let the walls fall for just a second. "Noah, I want to believe you. I do," she whispered. "But I'm scared. I'm scared of what I'm feeling and how much I've let myself care. And I'm scared that it's all going to fall apart."
"I promise you it won't," he said, his voice steady. "I'll fight for us, Amara. I'll fight for you."
And for the first time in what felt like forever, Amara allowed herself to feel the weight of those words. She leaned into his arms, allowing herself the comfort and reassurance she had been denying for so long.