Chapter 1 - Two Years Later
ain tapped softly against the windshield as Ethan rested both hands on the steering wheel, staring at the glowing traffic lights ahead.
Accra looked different in the rain.
The city slowed down. The noise faded. Even the streets felt lonelier.
His phone buzzed on the passenger seat.
Three unread messages.
One from work.
Two from people he had no energy to reply to.
Ethan ignored them all.
He leaned back in his seat and rubbed his tired eyes. It had been another long day. Another twelve hours pretending he was okay. Another night driving home to an apartment that never felt warm enough.
The light turned green.
Cars behind him honked immediately.
Ethan sighed softly and drove forward.
A few minutes later, hunger forced him to pull into a small restaurant near Airport Residential. Nothing fancy. Just somewhere quiet enough to eat in peace.
The warm smell of grilled chicken and spices hit him the second he stepped inside.
Soft music played through hidden speakers overhead while rainwater dripped from his hoodie onto the tiled floor.
“Table for one?” the waitress asked politely.
“Yeah,” Ethan answered.
She led him toward the back corner of the restaurant.
And that was when he heard it.
A laugh.
Soft.
Familiar.
Dangerously familiar.
Ethan froze mid-step.
No.
His chest tightened instantly.
Out of all the people in Accra…
it couldn’t be her.
Slowly, he turned his head toward the sound.
And then he saw her.
Amara.
Sitting near the window beneath the golden restaurant lights.
Her dark curls rested over one shoulder, and she was laughing quietly at something the man across from her had said.
Two years.
Two entire years…
…and somehow she still looked exactly like the memory he couldn’t escape.
Ethan forgot how to breathe.
The waitress was saying something to him, but her voice sounded distant now.
Everything around him blurred except Amara.
She looked up suddenly.
Their eyes met.
And the smile disappeared from her face instantly.
The world went silent.
Ethan saw it happen in real time —
the shock,
the panic,
the emotions she tried to hide too late.
For one painful second, neither of them moved.
Then Ethan noticed the ring on her finger.
A diamond.
Small.
Elegant.
But loud enough to shatter him completely.
His stomach twisted.
The man sitting across from her turned slightly.
“Amara?” he asked, noticing her expression.
She didn’t answer.
She was still staring at Ethan.
As if she’d seen a ghost.
Ethan forced himself to look away first.
“Sir?” the waitress repeated carefully.
He swallowed hard.
“Actually…” his voice came out rough. “Forget it.”
Without another word, he turned and walked back toward the exit.
Fast.
Too fast.
Rain hit his face the moment he stepped outside, but he barely felt it.
His heartbeat was violent now.
His hands trembled as he unlocked his car.
Two years.
Two years of trying to forget her.
And now she was back.
Engaged.
Ethan laughed bitterly under his breath and slammed the car door shut behind him.
For a long moment, he just sat there in silence while rain hammered the roof of the car.
Then his phone lit up.
Unknown Number.
One new message.
Ethan frowned slightly before opening it.
And his entire body went cold.
“You still kept my number?”
