The rain had been falling since morning.
Amelia Rose stood behind the counter of the little flower shop she had spent years building, watching the drops slide down the glass window.
Business was slow.
Most people stayed indoors when the weather was this bad, and Amelia didn't blame them. Even she wanted to close early, go home, make herself a cup of tea, and forget about the long list of things waiting for her.
She reached for a white rose and carefully trimmed its stem.
Seven years.
She still remembered the last time she had held a rose for someone she loved.
Liam.
She quickly pushed the thought away.
She had trained herself not to think about him.
For seven years, she had done exactly that.
She had stopped asking where he was.
Stopped wondering whether he was happy.
Stopped checking his social media.
Stopped looking at old photographs.
At least, that was what she told herself.
The bell above the shop door suddenly rang.
Amelia looked up.
"Good afternoon. How can I—"
The words died in her mouth.
The man standing at the entrance was tall.
His black coat was soaked from the rain, and several drops of water ran down his dark hair. He looked older than the last time she had seen him.
More mature.
More confident.
But she knew those eyes.
She would know them anywhere.
Her fingers went completely still around the rose.
Liam Carter.
For a moment, Amelia couldn't breathe.
He stared at her from across the shop.
Neither of them spoke.
Seven years disappeared in a single second.
She was suddenly nineteen again, standing beneath the old oak tree behind their houses while Liam promised her that he would never leave.
Then came the memory she had spent years trying to bury.
The message.
The photograph.
The woman.
The argument.
And Liam walking away without explaining anything.
Amelia's grip tightened around the rose until one of its thorns pierced her finger.
A tiny drop of blood appeared.
Liam noticed.
His eyes immediately moved to her hand.
"You're bleeding."
His voice.
She hated that she still remembered exactly what it sounded like.
Amelia quickly dropped the rose onto the counter.
"I'm fine."
Liam took one step forward.
"Amelia—"
"Don't."
He stopped.
Her heart was pounding so loudly that she was sure he could hear it.
She looked at him properly for the first time.
He had changed.
The boy she knew had become a man.
His face was sharper now. His shoulders were broader. There was something serious about him that hadn't been there before.
But beneath all those changes, he was still Liam.
The man who had broken her heart.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
Liam's jaw tightened.
"I came back."
She almost laughed.
"After seven years?"
"I know."
"You know?"
Her voice rose.
"That's all you have to say?"
"Amelia, please."
"Please what?"
She stepped around the counter.
"Please pretend the last seven years never happened?"
"No."
"Then why are you here?"
Liam looked at her for a long moment.
"I needed to see you."
Those words should not have affected her.
But they did.
Amelia hated herself for it.
She folded her arms.
"You've seen me. Now you can leave."
He didn't move.
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because I need to tell you something."
She shook her head.
"I don't want to hear it."
"You deserve to know the truth."
That stopped her.
The truth.
Seven years ago, she had begged him for the truth.
She had stood outside his house in the middle of the night, crying and asking him what she had done wrong.
He hadn't answered.
He had simply looked at her with tears in his eyes and said:
"I can't do this anymore."
Then he left.
Amelia had spent years wondering what she had done to make the man she loved stop loving her.
Now he was standing in front of her, talking about the truth.
She swallowed.
"What truth?"
Liam opened his mouth.
Before he could answer, the shop door opened again.
A young woman walked inside.
She held a black umbrella in one hand and looked between Liam and Amelia.
Then her eyes widened.
"Liam?"
Amelia froze.
The woman smiled.
"You didn't tell me she was here."
Liam's expression immediately changed.
"Claire, what are you doing here?"
Amelia stared at the woman.
Claire.
The same name.
The same woman.
The woman from the photograph seven years ago.
Her chest tightened.
Liam noticed the change in her expression.
"Amelia, it's not what you think."
She laughed bitterly.
"I've heard that before."
Claire looked confused.
"What's going on?"
"Nothing," Amelia said quickly.
She walked behind the counter and picked up the rose she had dropped.
Her hand was still bleeding.
She didn't care.
"Your flowers," she said to Claire.
Claire frowned.
"I didn't order flowers."
Amelia looked at Liam.
"Then maybe you should take her somewhere else."
"Amelia—"
"Get out."
The words came quietly.
But they were firm.
Liam stared at her.
"I came here because—"
"I don't care why you came."
She looked directly into his eyes.
"You left me once. Don't come back expecting me to welcome you."
Something painful crossed his face.
"I never stopped loving you."
Her heart betrayed her with one painful beat.
But she refused to show it.
"You should have remembered that seven years ago."
She turned away.
"Goodbye, Liam."
He remained still for several seconds.
Then he walked toward the door.
Just before leaving, he stopped.
Without turning around, he said quietly,
"I didn't leave because I stopped loving you."
Amelia closed her eyes.
"Then why?"
Silence.
She turned around.
Liam was looking at her.
His eyes were filled with something she couldn't understand.
Fear.
Regret.
Maybe even pain.
"I left because someone threatened your life."
Amelia's entire body went cold.
"What?"
Liam finally turned toward her.
"I was told that if I stayed with you, you would die."
Her fingers loosened around the rose.
The flower fell to the floor.
For seven years, Amelia had believed Liam had abandoned her.
For seven years, she had hated him.
But now, for the first time, she wondered if everything she believed about that night had been a lie.
Liam reached for the door.
"There's more."
Amelia stared at him.
"Then tell me."
He shook his head.
"Not here."
"Where?"
He looked back at her.
"Tomorrow. Ten o'clock."
"Where?"
"The old oak tree."
Her breath caught.
The place where they had once promised each other forever.
Liam opened the door.
Before stepping outside, he looked at her one last time.
"I should have told you the truth seven years ago."
Then he walked into the rain.
Amelia stood frozen behind the counter.
She looked at the closed door.
Then at the rose lying on the floor.
Someone had threatened her life.
Someone had forced Liam to leave.
And suddenly, the question that had haunted her for seven years changed.
It was no longer:
Why did liam leave me ?
It was who wanted him to leave me and why?