We Begin At The End

9

Chapter 9 Amber's childhood had always felt like a heavy weight she carried, a series of heartbreaks and losses she could never fully escape. Her biological father had died tragically before she was even born. Her mother had been seven months pregnant when, in the early hours of a fog-covered winter morning, his car was crushed by a truck. His body had been torn from the wreckage like a broken doll, his life taken before he could make things right. Her father had come from a wealthy family, but he hadn't married her mother, hadn't updated his will to include them in his plans. So, when he died, his family swooped in, taking everything—every penny, every possession—and leaving Amber's mother with nothing. Nothing but a broken heart and a baby growing inside her. Amber had been born into a life of hardship, brought into the world in a run-down trailer on the outskirts of a city slum. Her earliest memories were of the squalor around her—drug addicts, criminals, a world of desperation. But her mother had been a beautiful woman, and by the time Amber was two, she had married a young, handsome man who owned a gas station in Texas. From then on, their lives weren't as dire, but they still lived in the shadow of bitterness. Her mother, hardened by the betrayal of Amber's father's family, had grown distant, cold. She had two more children with her new husband, and Amber quickly became an afterthought, a reminder of the past her mother wanted to forget. Amber had grown up accustomed to being ignored, her mother too busy doting on her new family to pay her much mind. She was forgotten, overlooked, but she learned to fend for herself. She knew from a young age that if she wanted a way out, she'd have to find it on her own. She needed to become independent fast, and college was her ticket out. Her three-year bachelor's degree in computer engineering had come at the cost of hefty student loans. But Amber had been determined. She knew what she wanted, and she worked for it. The year she graduated, summer vacancies opened up in companies all over the place, and Amber applied to as many as she could. She was desperate for a job, for any chance to start paying off her debts and carve out a future for herself. Her mother and stepfather had refused to help with her college expenses, not that Amber had ever expected anything from them. When the acceptance letter from DeSantis Cybersecurity came, it felt like a miracle. Not only had she landed a job, even if it was temporary, but it was also the first time she would leave the country. **Rome.** It was like a dream come true for a girl who had grown up in a trailer park. At 21 years old, she felt as though the world was finally opening up to her. Her mother had already cut ties with her by then, her half-siblings had never been close. There was nothing holding her back. Nothing to keep her from chasing this opportunity. Now, standing in front of Luc, Amber was pulled back from the painful memories of her past by the way he was looking at her. The same way he had looked at her that fateful evening three years ago, with the same mixture of disbelief and anger that had burned her with embarrassment like nothing else could. It had been at an office party—DeSantis Investment Bank was celebrating its 78th year, and the grandeur of the event had left Amber in awe. The glittering elite of Rome had been in attendance, some of the most powerful and famous people in the world. Amber, in her modest royal blue dress, had felt invisible, a mere shadow in the presence of such opulence. But she didn't mind. She was just grateful to be there, to even have a chance to witness such a world that had once been so far out of reach. Everything had been going smoothly until her nerves got the best of her. She'd been rushing through the crowd, balancing a drink meant for the wife of one of the company's major shareholders, when disaster struck. Her spindly heels, which she was still getting used to, wobbled. She walked too fast, her balance faltered, and her elbow collided with someone's arm. That someone had been Luc DeSantis. The owner of the billion dollar company where she worked as an intern. In an instant, she went down. Her glass of neat scotch went flying, splashing all over Luc's tailored suit as she landed awkwardly on the floor, mortified. Amber could still remember the shock, the humiliation that flooded her as she looked up at him, her cheeks burning as though the room itself was on fire. Luc had stood there, his face a mixture of disbelief and fury, his immaculate suit now drenched in expensive liquor. He had looked at her in the same way he was looking at her now—furious, shocked, and completely unable to comprehend what had just happened and something else fluttering in his eyes, that she hadn't been able to decipher. And she had stood there like stupid blushing schoolgirl.