Chapter 7

The First Flashback

Every glance, every touch, and every muttered vow felt like a secret between us, and I remember the moments when love was so powerful that it could destroy the entire world. Jake was more than just a prosperous businessman in those days. Every grin, every look, every moment we took away from our hectic lives made my heart race. He was the cosmos to me.

It was incredibly simple at first. I still recall our initial glances at one another at the company gala. He seemed to be a man who stood out among the splendor and splendor with a sharp gaze that shouted of zeal and intrigue. I was created to him, like a moth to a flame. His voice, low, self-assured, and unexpectedly likable, while rippled through that overcrowded room. There were only the two of us, and we had no idea who else was on the planet.

We danced around one other for months, seizing every opportunity to catch a glimpse. There were jokes, hopes, and promises that nothing would ever separate us again throughout our conversations. I remember the softening of his eyes as he described his corporate empire, which he controlled with an iron grip but which still made room for me. I believed I was a part of that kingdom deep down. I was his partner, his confidante, and his equal.

But I felt that even in the most sensitive moments, Jake's thoughts remained never completely with us. I pushed myself into our time together, but he was sometimes distracted lost among the cold, calculating complexities of his vast operation. He was always occupied with phone calls, meetings, and other business. His eyes would briefly brighten when he looked at me, but the moment the subject turned to business, the glimmer would disappear. It was bittersweet and confusing discovering the difference between the good man I assumed to know and his public persona as a vicious tycoon.

I made an effort to ignore it, convincing myself that all partnerships had flaws. I wished that one day he would regard me as more than just a servant of his realm. One day, I prayed, his eyes would be on mine without the least trace of diversion, and our love could flourish without his objectives shrouding us in suspicion.

And then the night that changed everything came.

I was alone in our apartment, listening to the calming sound of the city outside, when I realized something was wrong. I couldn't tell when the unstated worries began to weigh heavily on the air. Seated on the side of our bed, I rubbed my fingertips across the faded writing on the headboard, hoping for a moment of clarity.

I found a small, positive pregnancy test hidden behind a stack of mail that night, and it was the first time I knew how serious things were. My heart was filled with both hope and anxiousness. The reality was more complicated than I could have ever imagined, despite my lifelong desire to have children.

Jake's reaction made me tremble, but I knew I had to tell him. I waited for him in our tiny kitchen at the break of dawn, coffee in hand, my heart pounding like a caged bird within my breast. As the morning streamed in through the window, the room was filled with gentle pink and gold hues. I weren't able have imagined preparing myself for the silence that greeted my voice when I finally spoke.

"I have something important to tell you, Jake," I replied in a voice filled with

A minute later, he looked up from his phone, his eyes first gentle, then hard with indifference. He answered directly and in a businesslike manner, "What is it?"

Breathing deeply, I gathered all my strength. "I'm expecting a baby."

For a few seconds, the world appears to stop. I saw the color go out of his face. His eyes flashed, a glimpse of something I couldn't make out, and then the cold, sly response came. "Pregnant?" he repeated, his tone doubtful. What's possible? You said you used birth control.

The accusation was painful, but I was not going to back down. Yes, Jake, I did. I was cautious. It was not expected. I didn't ask for this, yet it's happening.

His eyes narrowed, and his thoughts shifted into a kind I had only seen in boardrooms and negotiations. "Emma," he said coldly, "this isn't how you picture it. "I can't afford to be confined." is a dangerous statement.

I felt my heart splinter into a thousand fragments as his words hit me. “A trap?” I said it again, disbelief growing to pain. You only see that? Could I be a trap?

He was slow to answer. The silence that followed proved even more damaging than any argument could have been. He reacted as though I were poison, despite my attempts to establish a connection and express my love and concern for him. Suddenly, I was a stranger in the man I adored and who had made me feel invincible.

At last, he exclaimed, "I can't do this, Emma," in a firm and commanding voice. You can't make me do something I didn't ask for. I can't handle the stakes.

In the dim light of our apartment, I stood broken and alone as he left before I could scream or beg him to reconsider. I felt a great sense of betrayal as I watched him walk away, his silhouette fading into the distance. I revealed my soul, my aspirations, and my aims, and he dismissed it all as minor irritation.

While he was walking down the hallway, I clung to the notion that maybe, just maybe, he would come back for me, that our love would be rekindled, and that I could make up for what had been lost. But even as I spoke words of hope into the abyss, a darkness set in that I was unable to shake.

As the days turned into weeks, the sting of his desertion grew inside of me. Determining not to let his rejection define who I was, I withdrew within myself. I focused on the tiny life growing inside of me and took strength from the idea of being a mother. However, beneath my newfound resolve, hurt and hatred smoldered, waiting for a chance to blossom.

There were times in the city when I caught a glimpse of Jake, who seemed disturbed by his own memories of us. But whenever I met him he kept his distance as well as avoided making eye contact, as though they was too ashamed to face his behavior. The cost of his departure, I realized in those fleeting seconds, was not only to me but also to the life we could have had and the family we could have begun.

I poured myself into preparing the infant. Every pastel hue and tiny piece of furniture I chose to furnish the nursery stood for a future I tenuously held onto. Friends were there to support me, yet secrets and betrayal often made me feel alone. Thoughts of Jake and our passionate beginnings, along with the heartbreaking reality of his rejection, would haunt me every night when I woke up.

It dawned on me that once love was lost, it was impossible to regain in its entirety. It was like trying to revive a dried-out flower in a garden destroyed by drought. Despite my best efforts to care for the remaining bits, the blossom of what we had was lost forever.

A secret that I had had kept to myself, however, came to light in the midst of the heartbreak. Late one night, when I was completely isolated and the moon was casting odd silhouettes on the partitions of my bedroom, I found an undiscovered packet hidden in a drawer I had no idea existed. I was the recipient of the unusual, spidery handwriting. With trembling fingers, I opened it, and the note inside changed everything.

It came from someone claiming to know the truth about Jake, which he has made a concerted attempt to hide. Jake's abrupt lack of interest & coldness was not just due to his fear of determination, as the letter made obvious. There were darker forces at play, as well as secrets pertaining to his business empire and a previous transgression that had left wounds deeper than I could have ever imagined.

According to the letter, Jake had been compelled to maintain a violent character by powerful individuals in his family's business in order to maintain a history built on sacrifice and secrecy. Pregnancy, they said, was a liability and a way to distract me from a potentially damaging reality. The letter identified Jake's empire and a mysterious organization that has been surreptitiously manipulating events as possible conspirators.

I stared at the letter with disbelief. I could have been a pawn all along with the man I loved. Was his abandonment purely his own choice, or was it due to circumstances beyond his control? The consequences were significant. My heart ached with loss and a new determination. If the letter turns out to be true, my ordeal was not just a personal tragedy but part of a larger, darker plot.

I read the words several times over for hours until I lost the ability to distinguish between love and deceit. The letter's last, horrifying directive was, "Trust no one, not even those you once loved." I reexamined all of my assumptions about our past as an the warning sent a chill down my spine.

I realized, sitting in the quiet of my apartment with the faint noise of the city outside, that the letter's revelations were just the beginning. They might shatter my already brittle reality and force me to confront things I've been avoiding for years. Jake's picture, his kind grin, our tender times together, and his icy, heartless face the night he left all merged into one agonizing memory in that moment.

I silently vowed to uncover the truth at all costs as I held the letter of apology tightly, my eyes brimming with unshed tears. Answers were needed addressing my life today, the dreams we had made together, and our mutual love. I was determined to find them, too.

But when darkness descended, a sudden, ominous knock on the door disturbed the calm in my flat. I paused, my heart skipping a beat as the letter fell from my fingers into the cold, hard floor.

I approached the door gently, my footsteps echoing in the quiet. My breath caught in my throat as I peered through the peephole and saw nothing but the dark, empty corridor. After then, a soft voice seemed to come from the darkness, followed by another, more insistent knock.

"Emma... open the door.”

With fear gripping me, I pulled back. Who might that be at this hour? Could it be a person from Jacob's mysterious past? I couldn't stop thinking about it. Among the enigmatic individuals the letter refers to? Or was it Dominic finally carrying out the cold threat he had made?

Before my decision, the door softly creaked open by itself, allowing a glimpse of crimson light and the faint outline of a human standing slightly beyond the threshold. Even though I couldn't see the face clearly, I felt quite anxious because of the presence's sense of threat.

"Emma, it's time to remember.. the stranger stated in a barely audible voice.

The door slammed behind it, chilling my blood, and I was alone in the oppressive darkness, with only the distant sound of that final, terrifying word.