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I’m afraid to move, as if moving will make the contents of the certified letter in my hands real. But the phone call I received and the ten phone calls from Madyson that I sent to voicemail made it real before the letter arrived an hour ago.
No one thought this could happen. It’s unheard of since the proper channels were paid to avoid this very thing.
“Viking?” Alec kneels in front of me with concern. “What happened? Are you okay?”
I let out a breath, deciding it’s not a disaster. We’ll figure it out. Everything will be fine. I lift my head to meet Alec’s gorgeous brown eyes.
“They revoked my visa on a technicality. I have to leave the country.”
Alec shoots up from the floor. “You’re leaving me!”
“I’m not leavingyou. I can’t stay here while this gets straightened out. It may be a clerical error,” I lie.
I entered the US on a tourist visa and applied for the O1 visa, which requires prior approval. Madyson purposely didn’t pay me until we filed the paperwork with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service and they provisionally approved my visa. Artist and entertainers enter on tourist visas all the time—it never gets flagged. It’s an unspoken perk of being famous, getting around the rules and requirements of living in the US.
I used my fame to my benefit, and now Alec is paying the price for me having to follow the rules like a regular person.
“I thought you lived here,” Alec accuses.
“My visa should have been valid for three years.” I reach to take his hands, but he pulls away.
All the plans I’ve made to tell him I love him shatter.
“This was always temporary for you?” His voice rises with panic, and it’s killing me to know I’ve hurt him.
“No. We’re not temporary.” I bite back telling him I love him because I don’t think he’ll believe me and it isn’t fair. “Until this is resolved we’ll have to get creative on how to see each other.”I’m pleading, horrified my worst fears will come true. That he only ever wanted something temporary. He never said out loud he wants a real relationship.
Alec’s spine is stiff, and he’s staring at me mutely. Alec is only silent when things are too much. I’ve become too much for him.
“Alec, please talk to me. We can work this out. It will be fine.” Alec is the sun in my life. He changed me and I will never be the same.
“What was your plan when the three years were up? ‘It’s been fun, Alec, gotta jet’?” His voice cracks, giving away his hurt under his angry words.
Doesn’t he see my heart cracked wide open? Doesn’t he notice the blood spilling?
For him. My heart is useless without him.
Chapter thirty-three
Alec
Ghost Town by Benson Boone
“Iwill never leave you by choice. This isn’t my choice. Read the letter.” Von shoves a letter at me like I’m calling him a liar.
Maybe I am.
I don’t understand why he didn’t tell me he’s leaving in three years. That we weren’t building a future, only time.
I scan the letter and my heart that had been beating its way out of my chest leaves my body. My heart is gone and I can’t see straight.
“Two fucking days. You’re leaving forever in two days.” I throw the letter to get away from it, but in defiance, it floats to the floor at my feet. I clasp my hands behind my head and blow out several breaths, but they’re too fast.
I concentrate on not hyperventilating.
This is impossible. We're impossible. Every thought I had for our future blows up.
“I’m not leaving forever,” he says, but that sounds like a lie. “The process might take a long time to straighten out. But Iwillfix it. I’m coming back to you and you can come to me.”