The grand lodge, once a place of laughter and secret kisses, had transformed into a cold, hollow shell. The announcement of the engagement gala acted like a sudden frost, killing everything beautiful that had grown between the mountain peaks.
Upstairs in her room, Lili was a shell of herself. She wasn't just crying; she was shaking with a deep, silent sob that seemed to come from her very soul. She had packed her small suitcase in record time, her hands trembling so much she could barely zip it shut. The emerald dress—the one she had worn when he kissed her—lay crumpled on the floor like a dead leaf.
A soft knock sounded at the door before it pushed open. Luca stepped in, his face etched with a pain that mirrored her own. He didn't say a word; he just walked over and pulled her into a tight, protective embrace.
"I'm so sorry, Lili," Luca whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "I'm so, so sorry."
"He lied to his father's face, Luca," Lili choked out, burying her face in his shoulder. "He called me a 'responsibility.' He looked at me like I was a stranger. And now... he's actually going to marry her. He didn't even fight for me."
Luca held her tighter, his heart breaking for his best friend. "He's a coward, Lili. He's a brilliant CEO, but he's a coward when it comes to our father. He thinks he's protecting you by playing along, but he's just breaking both of your hearts."
"I want to go home," Lili sobbed. "I want to go back to my small apartment and forget I ever stepped into this world. I'm just the 'New Girl,' Luca. I never belonged here."
Downstairs in the library, the air was thick with the scent of expensive cigars and the sharp tang of scotch. Arthur Vance and Sienna were in the dining room, clinking glasses and discussing guest lists and press releases.
But Leo was alone in the shadows.
He looked like a man who had survived a shipwreck only to be stranded on a desert island. His hair was disheveled, his eyes bloodshot, and his shirt was unbuttoned at the collar as if he were suffocating. He poured himself another glass of scotch, his hand shaking so violently the crystal clattered against the bottle.
He heard the faint sound of Lili's crying from the floor above. Every sob felt like a physical blow to his chest.
"I had to do it," he whispered to the empty room, his voice a ghost of its former self. "If I didn't, he would have destroyed her. He would have taken her scholarship, blacklisted her family... he would have made sure she never smiled again."
He slammed his glass down on the mahogany desk, the liquid splashing over his hand. He hated himself. He hated the Vance name. He hated the billions of dollars that acted as a cage around his heart.
He looked at the phone on his desk. He wanted to call her. He wanted to run up those stairs, kick the door down, and tell her that every word he said to his father was a lie. He wanted to tell her that the kiss on the balcony was the only real thing in his entire life.
But then he looked out the window and saw his father's security detail patrolling the grounds. He saw the black SUVs—the reminders of the power he was supposed to inherit.
Leo sank into his leather chair and buried his face in his hands. He was the most powerful man in the city, but in this moment, he felt like the smallest person on earth. He had saved Lili's future, but he had lost his own soul to do it.
The departure from the lodge was nothing like the excited, music-filled arrival of a week ago. The mountain air, once crisp and exhilarating, now felt thin and suffocating. The gravel crunched under the tires of the waiting vehicles like breaking glass.
Lili stood by the porch, her small suitcase gripped so tightly her knuckles were white. She wore her old denim jacket and a pair of simple jeans—the "New Girl" uniform she had arrived in. The emerald silk dress was buried at the very bottom of her bag, a painful souvenir of a night she wished she could forget.
A sleek, black limousine waited for Leo and Sienna. Beside it stood the SUV for the students.
Leo stepped out of the front doors, followed closely by his father and a triumphant Sienna. He looked as though he hadn't slept in a century. His suit was perfectly pressed, but his eyes were hollow, staring at nothing.
He stopped at the top of the stairs, his gaze instinctively finding Lili. For a split second, the CEO mask wavered. His hand reached out slightly, a silent, desperate reflex to go to her, to explain, to apologize.
But Arthur Vance stepped up behind him, placing a heavy, possessive hand on Leo's shoulder. It was a reminder of the chains he wore.
"Let's go, Leo," Arthur commanded. "The board is waiting for the announcement."
Leo's jaw tightened. He didn't say a word. He allowed Sienna to tuck her arm into his, and he walked down the stairs, passing Lili as if she were a ghost. He didn't look at her. He couldn't. The scent of her perfume—the same one that had filled his senses on the balcony—was a knife in his chest
Come on, Lili," Luca whispered, his voice cracking. He took her suitcase and led her toward the SUV. Maya and Rohan were already inside, unusually silent, the shock of the morning still hanging over them.
As the SUV pulled away, Lili looked out the back window. She watched the black limousine pull out behind them, headed for the city's high-rises and the Vance headquarters. Two different cars, two different worlds, and a gap between them that now felt like an ocean.
The drive back to the city was a funeral procession. No singing, no snacks, no laughter.
When the car finally pulled up to Lili's modest apartment building, the city felt louder and meaner than ever before. The grey buildings seemed to lean in on her.
"Lili, I'll call you," Luca said, hugging her one last time on the sidewalk. "I'm not letting him do this. I promise."