Five Years Later.
With the aid of her powerchair, Louisa moved carefully through the bustling crowd of Nexalis International Airport, heading toward the wide glass exit where people came and went in a constant blur of motion.
Beside Louisa, a five-year-old girl held tightly onto Winifred's hand, her tiny steps matching their unhurried pace as they made their way out with their luggage.
A faint smile touched Louisa's lips. She remembered the first time she had come to this airport—alone, broken, uncertain of what life would become. Back then, Winifred had been the only steady hand she could hold onto.
Now, things were different. She wasn't returning as the same woman who had left.
And she wasn't returning alone. With her daughter and best friend beside her, she felt stronger and more determined than any uncertainty about what awaited her from here on.
Stepping through the automatic doors, a cool afternoon breeze met her face as she entered the courtyard. Louisa stopped while the others carried on.
The city stretched before her—familiar, unchanged, waiting.
Slowly, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The air carried the faint scent of the country she once lost… mixed with something else nearby—subtle, unfamiliar, yet oddly comforting, like a trace of a passing memory she couldn't quite place.
"Finally," she muttered.
"I'm home again." A low, baritone voice echoed beside her.
With a soft smile stretching across her lips, Louisa nodded. "Home again."
But then her smile faltered as a voice—faintly familiar yet strangely unfamiliar—echoed in her mind, unrelenting.
Why does this sound like him? Could I be imagining it? Her chest tightened with dread as she forced herself to look up.
Curiosity wrapped around her like a cloak as she lifted her gaze, her breath catching in her throat at the sight before her.
Beside her stood a towering man, likely in his early thirties, dressed in a crisp charcoal suit. His features hadn't changed—instead, they had sharpened into something even more striking and irresistible.
Sharp brows. Chiseled jawline. Clean-shaven face. And captivating yet piercing gray eyes that seemed capable of cutting through anything in their path.
Her pulse fluttered in a way it hadn't in years.
"You!" she exclaimed, the words slipping out in shock. "What the heck are you doing here? And why are you standing so close to me? Can you please take a few steps back before I get plastered all over the internet with someone like you?"
The man turned slightly toward her, his expression unreadable, though a faint clench in his jaw flickered before disappearing—something Louisa failed to notice.
"Do we know each other, miss?"
His indifferent words made Louisa blink blankly.
"Did you forget me? You can't remember me? Right. I believe my previous lesson to you was understood very well—that we are not on the same level," she said proudly before looking away.
"Who exactly are you?" he retorted in a low voice, his lips parting slightly as if caught in a thought before adding, "Oh… now I remember. You're the sharp-tongued, witty fallen heiress and actress from five years ago. A cheater, wasn't it?"
Louisa's hands clenched instinctively against her thighs. "I'm not a cheater! Don't you dare judge me when you know nothing about the truth," she hissed.
He let out a lazy scoff. "I'm too busy to be interested, much less want to know the truth about a wild woman's private life. Could this be a taste of your retribution?"
This time, his words struck her even harder, like a thousand thorns, draining the color from her face.
"You—!" Louisa's lips parted to retort, but he was already walking away as a black Rolls Royce Phantom pulled up beside them.
Fuming, Louisa slammed her hand on the armrest of her electric wheelchair as she watched him slip into rear seat of the car without a second glance.
The tinted window rolled up, and the car drove off.
Her jaw almost dropped when she realized he was driving in one of the elite luxury vehicles.
She rolled her eyes in disbelief, muttering, "He must've hired that car just to impress me. But even if I become a beggar someday, I will never fall for his tricks."
"Louisa! What are you mumbling about?" Winifred called out from the rolled-down window of their waiting car. Then she glanced in the direction of the departing Phantom in a distance.
"Precisely, who are you cursing? Was it him?" Winifred asked, her face lighting up with curiosity.
Louisa didn't answer immediately. She pressed a button, and the powerchair automatically wheeled itself toward their waiting Mercedes-Benz.
"Him? I don't even know if someone like him exists. It's not something worth worrying about, which means you shouldn't mention someone like him near me again," she said dismissively, waving her hand.
Winifred only shrugged.
Despite her efforts to forget what had just happened, her thoughts betrayed her.
"My return was supposed to be peaceful. At least on the very first day… not bumping into that pervert who just ruined my mood."
Once she reached the car, she carefully rose from the wheelchair and slid inside while the driver placed the powerchair into the trunk before moving to the driver's seat.
Just as she settled in, the little damsel clung to her hand.
"Mommy, will I like it here?"
"Of course, Celine. You have me and your Auntie Winnie here."
"But I won't have anyone to play with. You go to work, and Auntie Winnie will go too. I will miss my friends," Celine said, clutching her doll.
"I think you'll get to make new friends here."
"Does that mean I'll meet my grandparents too? You haven't told me much about them… when will I get to meet them?" she asked, her round eyes sparkling with thrill as she pouted softly. "Even my daddy… I want to meet him first. Can we?" she added in a small, pleading voice.
Hearing that, Louisa's face instantly soured. She hadn't expected her daughter to be this quick to ask about those she hadn't intended to reconnect with yet.
As for her child's father… she still hadn't figured out who he was yet.
"Celine, can we talk about that later? Mommy is tired after a long flight, okay?"
Celine nodded. "Okay, Mommy. I'll wait until you're strong again." Her gaze drifted to her mother's legs.
"Yes… when I'm able to walk again," Louisa replied, glancing at Winifred, who was quietly watching them.
"Yeah! I'll wait then, Mommy," Celine said, hopping on her seat.
Once her excitement quiet down, she rested her head on her mother's thigh, then crossed her little legs comfortably over Winifred's lap.
Louisa wore a bright smile that barely reached her eyes, just to make sure her daughter didn't notice her dampened mood. She couldn't afford to introduce her daughter to her family—or anyone else—only for Celine's dignity and identity as a child to be attacked with unpleasant words when Louisa hadn't even restored her own yet.
So, she believed it wasn't wise to reveal her daughter's existence to the world just yet.
Feeling a bit helpless, Louisa stroke Celine's hair affectionately while the driver navigated through the bustling main city road.
As the car fell into silence and Celine was now asleep on her thigh, Louisa lifted her gaze to Winifred who was caught up chatting with someone on the iPad.
"I want to visit the Asher mansion," Louisa suddenly said, breaking the silence.
Hearing that sudden decision, Winifred quickly turned to her. "For what?"