Alexei’s POV

I woke up the next morning alone in bed. The spot next to me was cold and I couldn’t see anything that belonged to Emily in the room. I sat up straight and looked at the watch that was blinking 10:45. This was the latest I’ve ever slept in.

I got out of the bed, pulled on some sweats, and exited the room while putting on a shirt. I bumped into a body just as the shirt went over my head. It was Gale. She had grabbed onto my chest to keep herself steady.

Her eyes went wide before looking up at me, still not taking her hands off my chest. She slithered closer and was about to place a kiss on my lips when I pulled away and glared at her. She frowned and without saying a word, walked away.

She was the type of girl I was used to, someone that was just with me for my body. I shook my head and jogged down the stairs, hoping to find Emily in the kitchen. Other than Octavia drinking tea, the kitchen was empty.

Octavia smiled, “Hey sleepyhead, did you try to wake everyone up last night? Between you and Adonis, I only closed my eyes at 3 this morning.” Sadly for her, Octavia’s room was between Adonis and mine.

I placed a kiss on her cheek, “Sorry, have you seen Emily?” Octavia shook her head, causing me to frown and jog back up to our room. My heart started beating faster when I saw her clothes were gone and everything from the bathroom was taken.

I glanced at my lonely bag on the floor, where a white piece of paper was waiting. I was almost too afraid to open the letter because I knew that whatever was inside would break me. I had the letter in my hand while taking a seat on the corner of the bed.

My name was neatly written on top. I took a deep breath and opened the letter.

‘My Alexei,

I wish things could have been different. The last few weeks have been the best of my life. I slowly grew to care about you. I asked my father if he was willing to wait, because I found someone that I truly cared about and he said no. I wish I could have told you this in person, but it would have broken my heart leaving you when I knew that you wouldn’t follow.

I want to let you know that I’m doing this because I have to and if we were in any other place and time, I would have stayed with you in-a-heartbeat. Please take care of yourself and remember, I Love You.

If we ever meet in the future, know that my heart belongs to you no matter who I’m with.

Forever Yours,

Emily’

I read the letter twice, always stopping at the I Love You part. I guess I was wrong. I meant more to her then I thought and she tried to keep us together. I had to stop myself from jumping up and running after her.

« • x • x • x • »

Emily’s POV

The sun still hasn’t shown its face. It was cold and windy as I got into the taxi at 5 am. I had to leave before Alexei woke because I would never be able to leave if I had to face him. The taxi took me to the airport where I would board the plane at 7 am.

The further we drove, the more my heart burned. I could feel tears forming at the corner of my eyes and quickly swiped them away. I wanted to tell the driver to turn around so I could go back and get right back into bed with Alexei.

But this was for my family. I didn’t care about the money or anything that came with my name but my parents meant the world to me and I couldn’t be stupid and force my dad to leave me behind. I knew it wasn’t something he wanted to do, but he would if only to show me reasonability.

But I knew, that no matter what was to come, my heart would always belong to Alexei.

**Copyright © 2020 by Grace Write**