Chapter Five

Daniel POV

Three years later.

“Babe! Babe wake up” someone taps me. I groan, my eyes looking at her.

At her long beautiful black hair, her blue eyes, and her wide smile. Her hair was packed into a messy bun. She is putting on glasses with a book in her hand probably from reading. She always believed in her morning rituals or reading before anything.

I smile at her. My wife Amelia. My beautiful wife. How I have missed her scent and…

“You came back” I mumbled, still staring at her, tears in my eyes, my heart racing.

“Who came back?” She asks. “Daniel wake up it is seven. We have Amelia’s memorial and also the investors who are interested in our company! Stop daydreaming about her. She is dead!” Ashley screams.

I roll to the other side of the bed and hiss out loud. I sit up, bringing myself to reality.

To the issue at hand. To my miserable presence. I am married to Ashley.

“I was not daydreaming about her” I mutter as I stand up and drag my towel from my wardrobe.

“Yes, you were. You have been dreaming about her for the past three years. I have been enduring it for three years and I am done. Get over it, Daniel. Be a fucking man and stop whining over your….”

I slam the bathroom door against her and lock it. Only then do I get some peace and even at that she is still hitting my door.

“Hide all you want Daniel. Amelia is dead, accept it!” She screamed, kicked the door twice, and stormed out.

Accept it like it was something easy.

Like we were discussing the weather or the colour of my shirt.

Images of the news headline carrying the news of her death, the reporter's voice fills my head.

It's been three years and each time I blame myself.

If only she were alive.

If only she had not died.

Maybe it would have been different

If only I were not a fucking coward..

My hands hold the necklaces that Amanda found for my neck. The black necklace that contains her ashes.

I had reserved some, just to ensure that she was with me.

And today, it's been three years. Three years since she died. Three years since I died, the monkey difference is that I am breathing and she is not..

The drive to the memorial is silent. Ashley has a deep frown on her face and I am just too tired to even ask her what happened.

Immediately we step inside she holds my hands and smiles at the camera. I am too sad, too broken to even do that.

“Smile babe. The cameras are watching” she says through gritted teeth.

I shrug “It's a memorial, Ashley. Not a fucking party. We are meant to be sad and not happy”

She placed her hands on my chest and whispered “Well, that does not matter. Smile. I am happy you should be too. Don't forget that you divorced her”

“You know why I did that. It was for the….”

She placed a soft kiss on my lips, silencing me. I pull her back gently as disgust fills my stomach.

We walk inside the cemetery, away from the crowd. Just the two of us, Benita is always sitting there when we get there, her eyes filled with tears.

I look at the grace that practically contained an empty coffin. She really had no one. Nobody and the only person she had was me

And I too failed her.

Immediately Benita sees me she gawks at me, her hands curl into a fist. “Can you stop the pretense? Even at death you are still following her. God, she would be so irritated by you!”

“I…” I pause. I want to say I am irritated by myself. More irritated than ever. I am even surprised that I still stay in this body.

But instead, I smile and say “You will be fine”

“And stop acting like he is not her ex-husband. He needs to play the image of a man who is mourning his wife. How then would the world believe the epic love story of Daniel and Amelia? He is asking me to paint a picture”

Ashley pulls out a ticket from her bag and gives it to her “I would be inviting you to see the movie. A love situation. About Daniel and Amelia. It's a memorial for your friend”

Benita takes the ticket and tears it into pieces “I should watch how you lie to the whole world and paint it like Daniel was a victim who still fell in love with her even when she hurt him? Where you portrayed my friend as a gold digger!”

“Oh, she is. And some parts of the movies are true. Daniel passed out three times when he received the news of Amelia's death. I just ensure that the world never finds out. So please come okay?” She asks.

Benita sends a death glare at me before walking past me.

And then it is legit with both of us. With me and Ashley and Amelia.

“Say what you want to say lest we go. God knows I would not have come here if you had not made it compulsory”

She rolls her eyes and walks away. I turn to the grave and sit beside it. “Hey, Amy. It's been three years since you were left in that bomb explosion. I know I was really with you when you were with me. I broke your heart and left it without even a word. I know you hate me and you should, because I hate myself. I hate every day without you. I wish I could turn back and make things work but I can't. And it's eating me, Amy. It is killing me. Please come back, come back to me” I please.

I take out my seat and lie beside the grave, caressing the sand for as long as I can. Enjoying the quiet.

“Hey! Time's up we have a meeting to attend” Ashley's voice guy t.

I rise slowly and dust myself, put on my coat back and walk towards the car. My face went blank with an expression.

I don't talk to Ashley. I don't even give her an avenue to talk to me. I just walk away.

Immediately I get to the office, I head straight to the board meeting. Today I would be selling fifty percent of my company shares to someone.

Who would be an equal partner in the firm with me?

This investment is a God gift to me because God knows how much I needed the money.

How much my company needs to be honest because the company is beginning to go down and down.

By the time I get there, the patient has not arrived. I sit opposite Ashley, I can feel her glare biting into me but I choose to ignore it and bury myself in the credits and pray that they accept our offer.

“She is here sir” my secretary informed me.

I sit upright, clean my tear-stained eyes, and wait for them to walk in.

Immediately she walks in, I freeze.

My whole body came to a halt. Staring before me is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, a replica of my dead wife Amelia, only that she looks more beautiful now.

I blink twice “Good morning ma. It's nice seeing you”

“Good morning Daniel. I am guessing you know me right ?” She asked with raised eyebrows.

Her voice sounds so familiar. Too familiar to be true

No. This can't be her.

But when I meet her eyes, those beautiful pure blue eyes that made my heart skip every time

Is she alive?.

Or am I daydreaming?

I clear my that it “Sorry I don't recognize you”

She rolled her eyes, just the same way she did when I laughed at her for eating ketchup with rice. A very odd combination.

“Don't play pretense, Danielle. I have not cajoled that much. My name is Amelia. Formerly Amelia Forbes but now Amelia Blackwood”

My whole world falls to a halt. What did she just say

“That's a lie! Amelia died years ago. You bloody impersonation. You can't deceive us!” Ashley screams

She turns to Ashley “Oh and you must be Ashley. The woman who settles for my leftovers. You might not believe it but ask your husband. He spent five years with me. He knows I am saying the truth”

She checks her throat “Please sit down if you want us to get to the business of the day ”

I manage to close my mouth and sit my ass down. Tears stand in my eyes. It's like a fucking miracle. She is alive. Amelia is alive.

“Amy…” I whisper.

She raised her hands “It is my to you Daniel. You can't call me that name. We are no longer married and I have a husband now”

A husband?” I ask, looking confused. How she managed that I did not know.

“Who? Who is your husband?” Ashley asks.

The door creaks open and then he enters.

A smile on his face.

My worst enemy.

Someone who I thought had died seven years ago.

Someone whom I killed with my orders and made sure he was dead.

Kayden. My stepbrother.

He winks at me “Hello, brother”