A Billionaire's Regret For A Ghost

randmother, who suffered from Alzheimer's. She still though

cold. "It's useless. Even if you got down on your knees

He thought I was manipulatin

thing more. I had left th

me forever, right up until

en dead for two years

world s

r me in the most e

pte

as

ll. I was trapped in the realm of the li

she clutched my battere

er and over again. It would ring

icon Valley tech park, asking everyone she met, "Excus

hers offering polite but dismissive apologies. Yet, Nana didn'

to tell her to stop looking, to just go ho

wd surged out of the c

ctively and caught sigh

as L

long that I almost didn't recognize him at f

as now a billionaire. Flanked by a beautiful, young executive

hful vulnerability that once marked his face

ur hunched over a keyboard writing code, s

tech ti

nger at Liam and excitedly told a passerby, "Look

de him and muttered in confusion

died, her condition deteriorated rapidly. S

riving her to this tech park. Deep in her fragile mind, she still beli

ould come!" Her voice was bright and tou

as she looked left and

ing right beside her, s

g? Come on, let's go see him. He'll

t in some places, entirely blank in others. She remembered the goo

t that I

us as a deepl

he thought we were still together,

re he built was erected upon

mix of joy and sorrow. In that momen

any we founded together, the ideas we shared-they had culminated in t

the attention of the crow

ored her, shooting her a cold, in

gh the crowd, trying to run toward him. Blocked by his bodyguards

randdaughter Chloe Miller's boyfriend! They lov

urned his head to look at my gra

eplied coldly, "I don't know he

illion agonizing pieces. The suffocating pain made me realize that

an anything I had experienced in life. It was

had grown, festered, and ultimately mu

letely erased my existence, denying what

ective, three years ag

t you remember me

nto her worn

out a faded

e smiling, arms wrapped around each other, his head resting

trembling. "It's Chloe. It's us." She

back. The crowd surged forward, eager to catc

fell to her knees. Her purse gaped open, i

er tattered wallet, coming to rest righ

kers. People whipped out their phones, ready

dignity. No one offered a helping hand. In the vast

ngered on the photograph for a moment. In that split second, I saw a flick

ent

rapid succession. He picked up the photo, his

ad long since stopped bea

ed. He had

ar-blurred eyes. A small smile touched her lips

e the photo in half. Then into quarters. He kept goi

he ground, scattering them aro

e," he said. "Lies, betrayal, and

ing those words still made m

always knows exactly ho

They ripped through my spirit, stinging m

ompletely, piece by piece,

embling hands trying to gather the torn pieces. Her face contorte

at Grandma, at the scattered fragments of our past, eag

shield her, to make them stop. But I was like

sly, without a shred of re

d. "Don't let them do this to h

ignored me. He

irk playing on his lips. "Isn't it a bit

ts something from me, she knows what she has to do. If she gets d

ked up, her

ooking lost. "But Chloe... s

rstand. She cou

-ached with an unbearable longing. Oh, h

uldn't touch her, couldn't comfort her, couldn't be

scoff. He turned on his heel and walked away, his en

of clarity sparked

ed, and a painful memory pierced through the fog. Her lips

can't. She can't apologize. S