THE MAN I WASN'T SUPPOSED TO SEE
CHAPTER ONE
THE MAN I WASN’T SUPPOSED TO SEE
three years ago, I left Bellwood in the middle of the night.
I didn’t say goodbye.
Not to my friends.
Not to my father.
And most importantly, not to Noah Bennett.
I told myself it was the only way.
three years later, I stood outside Hart House with my father’s funeral program folded inside my handbag, staring at the man I’d spent half my life trying to forget.
Noah.
He was leaning against the black SUV parked in front of the hotel.
He looked different.
Older.
Harder.
Dangerously handsome.
His dark hair was shorter than I remembered, his shoulders broader, his jaw covered with the faint shadow of a beard.
But his eyes hadn’t changed.
Gray.
Cold.
And when they met mine, I knew immediately that whatever forgiveness I’d secretly hoped for didn’t exist.
He pushed away from the car.
“Elena.”
My name sounded like an accusation.
I swallowed.
“Hello, Noah.”
His gaze moved over me.
“You’re back.”
“I’m here for the funeral.”
“Of course you are.”
I frowned.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
He laughed once.
It wasn’t a happy sound.
“It means you always knew how to show up when it was too late.”
I felt the words in my chest.
Before I could answer, the hotel’s front door opened.
Mr. Hale, my father’s lawyer, stepped outside.
“Elena, we’re ready for you.”
I nodded and walked past Noah.
He didn’t move.
But as I passed him, he spoke quietly.
“You should have stayed away.”
I stopped.
“Why?”
His eyes met mine.
“Because I never stopped hating you.”
My heart cracked.
The worst part?
I wasn’t sure whether he was telling the truth.
The reading of my father’s will took less than twenty minutes.
I expected money.
Property.
Maybe debt.
What I didn’t expect was Hart House.
“Your father has left the hotel entirely to you,” Mr. Hale explained.
I stared at him.
“But the hotel is practically bankrupt.”
“Correct.”
“And I don’t live here.”
“Also correct.”
“Then why would he leave it to me?”
Mr. Hale slid a document across the table.
“Because there’s a condition.”
I looked down.
I had six months to restore Hart House to profitability.
If I failed, the property would be sold.
I almost laughed.
“That’s impossible.”
“It’s not.”
Noah spoke from the corner.
I turned toward him.
He was sitting with his arms crossed.
Mr. Hale continued.
“Your father appointed Noah Bennett as the hotel’s financial and operations adviser.”
My mouth fell open.
“No.”
Noah raised an eyebrow.
“Nice to see you too.”
“I can’t work with him.”
“Neither can I,” he said.
Mr. Hale sighed.
“Your father anticipated that.”
He opened another envelope.
Inside was a handwritten note.
For Elena.
My fingers trembled as I opened it.
You will hate me for this.
I already did.
But there are things you were never told.
My breathing stopped.
Noah deserves the truth.
I looked up.
Noah was watching me.
“What truth?” he asked.
I folded the letter quickly.
“I don’t know.”
He stood.
“You’re lying.”
I shook my head.
“I’m not.”
He walked toward me until there was barely a foot between us.
"three years ago, you disappeared.”
His voice was low.
“You broke my heart.”
He leaned closer.
“And now your dead father leaves us a hotel and a secret.”
His eyes searched mine.
“What the hell were you running from, Elena?”
I couldn’t answer.
Because the truth was the one thing I had promised myself I’d never tell him.
