Chapter Forty Seven

Emily was left stranded with a promise on the night that she intended to inform Damian about her pregnancy.

After their phone call, she was left standing in the middle of the room, staring at her phone.

He had ended their conversation with "I will be with you as quickly as I can,” but he did not give a specific time. Emily gently sat down on the bed. She had not yet left the house. She didn't want to sit at the restaurant waiting for him to arrive. She wanted to arrive fashionably late.

She laid her hand on her tummy.

She'd practiced the words countless times.

I'm carrying your child, Damian.

Everything had gotten complicated again now that she finally had the courage to express them.

There was a gentle knock at the door and Sophia came in.

"You're still awake," Sophia said.

Emily answered, "I was expecting Damian."

"Did he explain what happened?" Sophia asked as she sat next to Emily.

"He mentioned that something had happened but he didn't go into details," Emily responded.

"Tonight, you were prepared to share the news with him, right?" asked Sophia as she looked at Emily closely.

"Yeah, Emily said as she nodded."

"Perhaps waiting isn't so awful," Sophia said.

"I've been waiting for a long time to get this off my chest. Tonight, I thought I would finally have the chance to," Emily said as she also looked at Sophia.

Sophia retorted, "I'm aware." "However, you shouldn't tell him out of fear of what might happen if you don't."

"I'm not terrified of him," Emily claimed as she lowered her gaze.

"I know," Sophia responded. "You're scared about what's next."

Emily did not respond because she knew that Sophia was correct.

Once Damian was informed about the pregnancy, everything would be different.

Their entire relationship. The plans they made. And perhaps the way Damian looked at her is also going to change.

Sophia held her hand and said, "I'm here, no matter what you decide."

Emily said "Thank you," and they kept quiet for a moment.

Emily didn't want anything else at that moment. She only wanted to concentrate on her future.

___

Olivia was alone in her apartment and she felt unusually tranquil after seeing Damian.

Finally, she had uttered what needed to be said.

She had also observed the thing that she was refusing to believe. Damian had moved on.

And this time, Olivia believed it.

She moved to the drawer in which she had hidden the engagement band and she opened it. The little container was still there. After grabbing it, Olivia looked at it closely.

She had kept the ring for two years because she believed Damian might change his mind. She realized tonight that waiting for that day would be futile.

She unlocked the container and then she brought out the ring.

She slid it between her fingers for a few seconds and whispered, "Goodbye, Damian." And then she put the ring back into the container and closed the drawer.

It should have stopped there.

But Olivia wasn't your average ex.

She knew how to walk away gracefully without losing her composure.

She understood how to conceal suffering behind a serene expression.

She knew how to keep a door closed without throwing awythe key.

She wasn't going to pursue Damian.

She had no intention of interfering with Emily. However, she wasn't about to act as though two years of her life was for nothing.

Olivia decided that she was going to stop the investigation at least for now so she turned off the lights and decided to go to bed. But as she was about to leave, she spotted something on the ground.

It was a picture.

Olivia paused. She hadn't left it there.

She picked it up after bending over to look at it.

It was an old picture of Damian and her from their engagement party.

She took a prolonged glance at it and  when she flipped it over, she saw something she hadn't seen before.

A date was scribbled on the back.

Her look changed.

The date was from the week prior to Damian's father's death.

That week remained vivid in her mind because Damian had disappeared for several hours.

She recalled that his father had refused to talk to her.

She also recalled something else.

A discussion she had heard but never understood. Slowly, Olivia took a seat.

She had let herself believe that the past was over for two years.

But an old picture had reopened a door that she thought had been shut.

She checked the date once again.

"No," she said softly.

She didn't want another investigation.

She didn't want to revisit that time in her life. She tried to repress it, but the memory persisted.

__

When Emily's phone vibrated back at Sophia's flat, she was getting ready for bed. She looked at the display and saw that it was Damian.

She picked up the call at once.

"Hi?" Emily said.

Damian said, "I apologize about tonight."

"It's fine," Emily responded.

Damian said, "No, it is not." "I should have tried my best to make it tonight."

“I never went to the location, I waited for you to tell me you were on your way before leaving,” she said as she sat on the bed.

Damian said, "I want to see you tomorrow."

Emily's heartbeat quickened.

"Why?" She asked..

Damian answered, "I have some things to tell you."

Emily shut her eyes.

The burden of what she needed to say to him was already too much to bear. And Damian had gone and added another suspense to it.

Emily said, “we will talk about it tomorrow,” and she ended the call.

As the call ended, she fixed her gaze on the phone.

Sophia showed up at the door.

"Was that Damian?" She asked.

Emily gave her head a nod and said, "He wants to meet with me tomorrow."

Softly, Sophia grinned and said, "So tomorrow could be the day after all."

Emily covered her stomach with one hand and whispered, "definitely.”

However, neither of them was aware that Damian was getting ready to break some news to Emily that may change their perception of him of him forever.