Chapter 8: The Weight Of Secrets

Annabelle’s pov

The low hum of the plane’s engines was a comfort, as if the noise was the only thing in the world that made sense anymore. I stared out of the window, watching the landscape below shift as we descended into yet another city.

This was it, the third city I had called home in the last two months. It wasn’t much — a small, quiet place far removed from Los Angeles — and that was exactly how I wanted it. I needed the distance. I needed to disappear.

A soft ping from my phone broke my thoughts. I glanced down at the notification and immediately regretted it.

Daniel Alexandra Marries Longtime Girlfriend Mia Plank

The headline hit me like a punch in the gut. I blinked rapidly, as if trying to deny the reality before me, but the picture of Daniel and Mia, glowing with happiness, only confirmed it. They were married. Married.

My heart sank.

I had always suspected that Mia was more than just a woman in the background of Daniel’s life, but this... this was more than I had ever imagined. They had become an item long before I had even realized what was happening. The truth was painful, sharper than any cut.

I wasn’t sure what hurt more: that I had spent all this time thinking about Daniel, nursing my heartbreak, or that I had been foolish enough to think he would ever look back at me once we were apart.

I hadn’t expected him to wait for me. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was that in my heart, I was still tangled up in the old version of our life. I hadn’t let go, even when everything about that life had imploded.

I dropped the phone into my bag, wiping away the tears that I hadn’t even realized had started to fall. It was no use. This chapter of my life was over. And though I had known, deep down, that Daniel had moved on, seeing it in black and white was a slap in the face.

My fingers instinctively moved to my stomach, where a new life grew. A life I hadn’t expected, a life that I could never regret, no matter the circumstances that had led to his creation. The father of my child was a stranger — a man I’d never see again. A man whose face, whose name, whose identity I had never known. But the baby? The baby was mine.

I exhaled, trying to calm my racing thoughts. I was going to be okay. I had to be.

For him.

The baby. My son.

I knew I was far from ready to be a mother, but it was too late to turn back now. Even if I wasn’t prepared, this little boy inside me was my responsibility. I couldn’t afford to let the past consume me.

The rest of the flight passed in a blur, my thoughts spinning in every direction. I found myself reliving the night I had met the man — the one-night stand in a haze of too much alcohol and too many unanswered questions. He had been kind to me, in the briefest of moments. He had left me with nothing but a memory and a life-altering consequence.

Who was he? What had I done?

I pushed those thoughts aside, choosing instead to focus on the future. I had a plan. I didn’t need to know his name. I didn’t need to know anything more than the fact that my life would never be the same.

The plane finally landed with a soft jolt, pulling me from my thoughts. I straightened up in my seat, gathering my things. My emotions were a whirlwind, but I knew better than to let them take over. I had to be strong.

I stepped off the plane, greeted by the cool air of a city I didn’t know. Another fresh start. Another chance to disappear.

I had to keep moving, keep hiding, keep running from everything that threatened to drag me under.

The baby shifted in my belly, reminding me that no matter what I was running from, I wasn’t alone. I was never alone.

I moved through the airport with purpose, barely noticing the people around me. The hustle of travelers, the rush of baggage handlers, all of it faded into the background as I focused on the next step. I wasn’t sure where this chapter would take me, but I was determined to stay ahead of my past.

I had learned that being Annabelle was dangerous. People who knew Annabelle were never far behind. They always came looking for me, always tried to bring me back into the world I’d left behind.

But I wasn’t that person anymore.

I was someone else now. Someone who had learned the hard way that there was no room for weakness in a world that would chew you up and spit you out.

I was stronger than I had been before, even if the fear and the heartbreak still clung to me like a second skin.

I pulled my phone from my bag again, staring at the alert about Daniel and Mia’s wedding one last time. It was the final nail in the coffin. I had to let go of everything — the past, the heartbreak, the dreams I’d held onto for so long.

And yet, my heart betrayed me with a thought that I couldn’t push away:

Would he have looked at me the way he looked at Mia if I had stayed?

I couldn’t answer that. I wasn’t sure I ever would.

But I did know one thing.

My son deserved better than the heartbreak I’d lived through. He deserved a future where I was strong enough to protect him from the mistakes of the past. A future where he didn’t have to wonder about a man who was nothing more than a stranger.

As I stepped into the cool night air, I promised myself I would make it happen. I would be the mother my son deserved. I would give him the love and stability I never had growing up.

I would make sure his world was different from mine.

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