The Billionaire's Second Chance

Chapter 2

Austin

It has been three days since I left Sacramento to try and fix the mess my father forced me into. I rushed home, excited to see her. I tried to call and text but she never picked up her phone, so when the plane landed, the very first thing I did was rush back to the apartment, hoping she was still there waiting for me like I asked. I needed to tell her that after some hard negotiating, I had finally struck a deal with my dad that could possibly let me off the hook about the marriage to Amber. I was more than ecstatic, even though I would be losing everything that I worked for, having no chance to run the company as the next Nicholson CEO, at least, not anytime soon.

I got home and ran into the apartment. “Hannah!” I screamed, running from room to room, turning on every light, checking every corner. I searched every nook and cranny looking for her but all traces of her had disappeared. I tried throughout the past four days to call and text, but she never responded. I thought it was because she needed space. I ran back into the bedroom and flung the closet door open and I couldn’t believe my eyes. She was gone. All of her clothes, shoes, personal belongings, were gone. She left. She didn’t give me the chance to fix it like I said I would, like I promised. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her cell phone, charged to thirty-five percent and all the messages that I left her and a note, sealed with a kiss. My hands shook as I picked it up and opened it, dreading the words I was about to read.

Austin,

You have no idea how much this breaks my heart. I love you and I will always love you. A part of me will always ache for you, but I just can’t do this anymore. I can’t sit here for days, waiting, wondering and hoping that you meant what you said about trying to fix things with your father to get out of this marriage contract. How could I hold so much hope when you weren’t honest with me from the beginning?

I have been nothing but honest with who I was. You knew where I grew up. You knew about my upbringing and how I came from a humble home. You were there for me when my parents died. You accepted all of me as I am, knowing I would never fit into the lifestyle that you hid from me. I knew you came from the elite, but I didn’t care. I fell in love with the man you were showing me you could be. A man that treated everyone as equals, no matter how much money they had. But because your parents created this contract when you were younger and you decided to hide that information from me for our entire four-year relationship, it breaks my heart. It tells me that a part of you would always be ashamed of who I was.

I had pictured forever with you, Austin. I imagined us getting married, a small wedding on a ranch in my hometown in Texas. I pictured me being pregnant with our child, watching our children grow up in a happy and humble home, learning to respect everyone no matter who they were. I imagined one day, officially meeting your parents, making me feel that you were one hundred percent in this for the long haul. But you weren’t. You never were and that hurts more than anything else. A part of me feels that if you cheated on me, the pain wouldn’t hurt as badly as this. It’s all the secrets that were kept that put the doubt into my mind.

So, I let you go Austin. I am going to let you go so you can live the life you were always meant to live. I will be okay and maybe one day, our paths will cross and we can finally see how happy we are. You will always be a part of me and I hope to always be a part of you. I will love you forever Austin.

Love Hannah

With that, I punched the wall next to me, over and over, until my knuckles were bloody to the point of blood dripping down on the carpet, and with this broken heart, I had no one to blame but myself.