Chapter 1
London had a way of making people feel alone, even when they were surrounded by thousands.
Amelia Hart knew this better than most.
At twenty-four, she had mastered the art of looking perfectly fine when everything inside her felt as though it were falling apart. She smiled when necessary, laughed when expected, and kept the most painful parts of her life tucked safely behind a carefully constructed wall.
It was easier that way.
People could disappoint you. Promises could be broken. And love, she had learned, was not always enough to make someone stay.
That morning, however, she had no time to dwell on the past.
She was already late.
“Please tell me you’re joking.”
Amelia pressed her phone between her ear and shoulder as she hurried along the busy London pavement, one hand clutching her handbag while the other struggled to keep her coat from slipping off.
“I’m not joking, Amelia,” Chloe replied. “Your interview is in twenty minutes.”
“I know.”
“You said that fifteen minutes ago.”
“Chloe.”
“What?”
“If you’re going to remind me that my entire future depends on this interview, could you at least wait until I get there?”
Chloe sighed dramatically. “Fine. But if you get that job, you owe me dinner.”
“If I get that job, I’ll buy you the entire restaurant.”
“I’m holding you to that.”
Amelia ended the call just as she reached the entrance of a towering glass building in the heart of the city.
She stopped for a moment, tilting her head back to look up at it.
Blake & Co.
The name was printed in elegant silver lettering above the revolving doors.
She took a deep breath, straightened her coat, and stepped inside.
The reception area was everything she had expected from one of London’s most successful investment firms: polished marble floors, expensive furniture, and people who looked as though they had never experienced an inconvenient morning in their lives.
Amelia approached the reception desk.
“Good morning. I’m Amelia Hart. I have an interview scheduled for nine o’clock.”
The receptionist glanced at her screen.
“Mr Blake is expecting you. Please take the lift to the twenty-second floor.”
Mr Blake.
Amelia had spent the previous evening researching the company. She knew it was one of the most influential firms in the city, and she had read enough about its founder to understand that he was not someone who tolerated carelessness.
Ethan Blake was thirty years old, fiercely private, and notoriously demanding.
According to the articles she had found, he was brilliant at what he did.
According to the comments beneath those articles, he was also impossible to work for.
Amelia decided not to believe everything she read online.
She stepped into the lift and watched the numbers climb.
Twenty-two floors.
One interview.
One chance.
She could do this.
When the doors opened, a woman with neatly pinned blonde hair greeted her.
“Miss Hart?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Olivia. Mr Blake will see you now.”
Olivia led her down a quiet corridor lined with framed photographs and glass offices. At the very end stood a pair of dark double doors.
She knocked twice.
“Come in,” a man’s voice answered.
Olivia opened the door.
“Miss Amelia Hart is here for her interview.”
“Thank you, Olivia. That will be all.”
Amelia stepped into the office and immediately understood why people described Ethan Blake as intimidating.
He stood beside a floor-to-ceiling window, one hand resting in the pocket of his tailored trousers. His dark hair was neatly styled, and his expression revealed absolutely nothing as he turned to face her.
Beyond him, London stretched beneath a pale grey sky.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then his eyes settled on hers.
“You’re late.”
Amelia glanced at the clock on the wall.
“By two minutes.”
“Three.”
“Then I suppose we should make the most of the remaining fifty-seven.”
Something flickered across his face.
Surprise, perhaps.
It disappeared so quickly that she almost convinced herself she had imagined it.
“Sit down, Miss Hart.”
She took the chair opposite his desk, placed her handbag beside her, and folded her hands in her lap.
Ethan sat down.
“I’ve reviewed your application,” he began. “Your qualifications are impressive. Your previous employer, however, describes you as someone who struggles with authority.”
Amelia blinked.
“That is an interesting way of putting it.”
“Is it inaccurate?”
“That depends. Does your definition of respecting authority include agreeing with everything your employer says?”
His gaze sharpened.
“No.”
“Then perhaps you should ask my previous employer what happened before accepting his opinion.”
For the first time, Ethan leaned back in his chair.
“Most applicants spend the first five minutes trying to impress me.”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you.”
“I didn’t say I was disappointed.”
The silence that followed felt strangely deliberate.
Amelia shifted slightly in her seat.
Ethan opened the folder in front of him.
“Why do you want to work here?”
She had prepared an answer to that question: a polished explanation about professional growth, ambition, and the opportunity to contribute to a respected organisation.
But something about the way he watched her made those words feel rehearsed.
So she told him the truth.
“Because I’m tired of working twice as hard just to prove that I deserve to be in the room.”
His expression changed.
Only slightly.
But she noticed.
“And you believe you’ll find that opportunity here?”
“I believe I’ll find the opportunity to earn it.”
Ethan studied her for a moment before closing the folder.
“You can start on Monday.”
Amelia stared at him.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
“But you haven’t even—”
“I’ve made my decision.”
She searched his face for some indication that he was joking.
There was none.
“Thank you,” she managed. “I won’t disappoint you.”
“See that you don’t.”
The interview was over.
Amelia rose, collected her handbag, and walked towards the door.
Her hand had barely reached the handle when his voice stopped her.
“Miss Hart.”
She turned.
“Yes?”
“Have we met before?”
The question caught her off guard.
“No. Why?”
Ethan looked at her for a long moment.
“I’m not sure.”
Amelia offered a polite smile.
“Well, I suppose you’ll get to know me now.”
She left before he could respond.
The door closed softly behind her.
Ethan remained still, his eyes fixed on the space where she had been standing.
He knew that face.
He was certain of it.
But the memory refused to come.
Then, from somewhere deep in his mind, a voice surfaced—distant, familiar, and impossible to ignore.
You promised you wouldn’t forget me.
Ethan’s expression hardened.
He stood abruptly and crossed to the window.
Outside, the city continued moving as though nothing had changed.
But something had.
For the first time in years, Ethan Blake had encountered a memory he could not control.
And the woman who had awakened it had no idea who he really was.
End of Chapter One
