Maldives, Beach House
When Emily woke up, she felt something sticky on her face. She sat up, jerkily, and opened her eyes. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed, when she realized the sticky stuff, that was spread over the blanket, her hands, and the face, was blood. At first, she thought her wound was burst open again, but she quickly realized that it was dripping from her nose. Probably still a result of the fall, she thought, as she leaned to the side of the nightstand and began to rummage through the drawer for handkerchiefs. But the drawer was empty, except for a small box in the rearmost corner. She had to go to the bathroom! There were washcloths and towels, which could stop the bleeding. Quickly, she jumped out of bed. Too fast, because an intense dizziness hit her, and just in time she managed to get to the bathroom, before she collapsed in front of the sink. Dazed, she reached for a towel, tore it off the hook, and tried to stop the nose-bleeding.
What's wrong with me? She had been dizzy and sick for days. The doctor had said that she would have to fight with the symptoms of her head injury for a while, but now more than two weeks had passed. She was about to get better. She had tried to hide her weakness from Aiden. He was already worried enough anyway. But gradually, she was worried, too. She still couldn't remember anything. And Aiden wasn't helping either. She had begged him to tell her more about her past, but he had refused to give her exact details. Supposedly, the doctor had said it would endanger the recovery process if she remembered too quickly. It could lead to an overload in her brain, followed by a permanent damage. She was not a doctor or an expert in the field, but even for her, as a layman, the whole thing seemed implausible.
Slowly, she rose from the floor and went back to the bedroom. The bleeding had stopped. Now she had to take care of the blood splatters, which were everywhere. As she bent over the bed to peel off the sheets, her gaze fell automatically to the drawer, which was still open. Magnetically attracted and full of curiosity, what my be inside, she reached grabbed the small box. Opening the lid, she looked amazed at the two rings that lay there: one narrow and golden, the other decorated with a dazzling diamond. No doubt, this piece of jewelry was of great value. Reaching for the golden ring, she frowned at the engraving:
"Forever and ever"... Daniel
"Amanda?"
Aiden had entered the bedroom unnoticed.
Frightened, she flinched, dropping the ring in the process, that fell from the bed to the floor and disappeared under the nightstand.
"What are you doing?"
Quickly, she bent down and pulled out the ring from under the nightstand.
"Who is Daniel?" she asked while holding the jewelry out to Aiden.
Emily's beach house, Hamptons
It was the first time since the fateful events of August 8th, when Daniel went back to the beach house. He didn't know why, but something attracted him, almost magnetically. He slowly went up the stairs and put the key into the lock. For a moment he hesitated before opening the door and then entering. Immediately, he perceived the familiar smell of Emily's perfume that filled the entire interior, and he felt a painful pull in his chest. Memories were suddenly awakened; it was a time, back then when he had lived with her and been happy. He had loved her and believed that Emily had been returning his love. Only a few days before the marriage, he had split up with Sara, because he had felt ready to settle down with Emily and their baby. He had given up everything because he had had the hopes of becoming a better father and husband than his own father had ever been. And now he stood there, right in the shards of his existence. He had lost everything; his faith, his hope, a baby that had never existed, and Emily, for whom he had become a murderer.
He shook his head slightly, as though he was able to suppress the gloomy thoughts, but the house kept too many memories. Mechanically, he went up the stairs to the bedroom. Everything was unchanged, the bed tidy. Memories flashed through his head – how they had made passionate love in those sheets. Had everything been a sham? Softly moaning, he sat down on the bed and reached for her pillow. He knew it had been wrong to come back here. He should have listened to his mother, who had advised him to forget about her. But this was not as easy as he could see now, as he pressed the pillow against his face and sucked in her scent. Emily had been the love of his life. How could he forget everything so quickly? Just now, at this place where he had been happy, he realized what he really had lost. And suddenly he wished he could undo what he had done.
He had not planned to harm her. He had only been too drunk and emotionally hurt, to verbally deal with her. The gun had been lying in front of him. He had automatically taken it, and pulled the trigger. He hadn't even consciously targeted, and yet there had been so much blood all of a sudden. Her beautiful white dress... ruined forever. Her young life... terminated...
Hastily, he pushed the pillow away and jumped up. He shouldn't be here. The memories haunted him. He was about to go downstairs when he heard a noise from the front door. Emily, it flashed through his mind. Could it be that she had returned? Had she survived the attack? He felt his heart beating fast with excitement as he ran downstairs. But there, in the entrance area, was not his missing wife, but...
"Nolan?"
Maldives, Beach House
Aiden took a deep breath before he slowly moved to Emily and took the ring from her hands. The time had come to reveal part of the truth to her.
"Daniel Grayson...," he began hesitantly. "He is the publisher of the lifestyle magazine 'Voulez' and heir to Grayson-Global, an investment company." He looked at her for a moment, waiting to see if the name might trigger something and continued when he got no reaction. "He lives with his family in the Hamptons on Long Island."
Emily nodded. It made perfect sense that this dazzling ring belonged to someone who was wealthy. But it still didn't explain how Aiden had come into possession of the rings.
As if Aiden had guessed her question, he went on with a lie. "Daniel is a good friend of mine. His wife had left him recently and had returned the wedding and engagement ring. I took the rings, so that he's not constantly reminded of her and the failure of his marriage."
"I'm sorry. I mean... for Daniel. I don't know him, but it must be difficult for him to lose his beloved wife."
Aiden suppressed a sigh. She could not know how close she had come to the truth. "She never loved him", the words slipped out, before he could stop them. He knew immediately that it had been a mistake.
"You know his ex-wife?"
He nodded mutely.
"Where is she living now?" Emily asked curiously.
"I have no idea," he lied and rose from the bed. He had enough of Emily's interrogation. The more she asked, the more difficult it was for him to stick to the truth. He wanted to wait for Nolan, to discuss with him how to prepare Emily for her return to the Hamptons. But this proved to be more and more difficult.
"Did they have children?"
He reached for the bloody towel and noticed that his hands were slightly trembling. "Are you hurt?" he asked, trying to change the subject.
"Just a little nose bleeding. I just wanted to pull off the sheets when you came in," she said.
"Are you hungry? I'm going to make us breakfast." He wanted to turn away to go to the kitchen, when Emily stopped him by grabbing his hand.
"You haven't answered my last question yet." She looked at him expectantly.
He turned to her slowly. "No," he said softly, not even knowing whether he was lying.
He remembered the conversation with Emily's doctor, who had confided to him that they had found hormones in her blood that indicated a pregnancy. An ultrasound examination had confirmed the suspicion. Emily was 8 weeks pregnant. At first he had been shocked, but then he had been a little happy. At least as long as he remembered, that Emily had not only had sexual contact with him in the weeks before August 8th. The only question was, had she used protection when she had been with Daniel? He was quite sure, because it would have been the last thing she wanted. He was also convinced that Emily had no idea of her condition, when she had given Daniel the fake ultrasound photo. What an irony of fate. It was a miracle that the bullet had missed the embryo.
And now he was sitting here, not knowing how to tell her that she was probably expecting a child from the man, whose family she had wanted to destroy. He tried to comfort himself with the idea that the chances were 50:50 that the baby was his. This was also the information he had given to the doctor. They were engaged. The question of paternity was clear. And he had given the doctor the promise, he would immediately inform his fiance about her condition as soon as she was better. But he had doubts whether the baby was really his. After all, he and Emily had always been careful when they were intimate with each other. He looked up and saw her pensive stare.
"Luckily," she said. "It's always sad when children have to grow up with only one parent."
He looked at her in amazement. Could she suddenly remember? But her facial expressions seemed neutral. Perhaps it was something in her subconsciousness that told her she knew that feeling. After all, most of her childhood she had been raised by only one parent before the Graysons had taken her father away.
He caressed her cheek softly. "I'm making us breakfast now." With these words he stood up, leaving a thoughtful Emily behind.