Chapter 3

ELARA POV___

Watching him drive away with her, holding her with such care and affection, was the final blow that completely shattered whatever was left of my already broken heart.

I stood there in the shadows, trembling, as the taillights of his car disappeared into the night. The image of her smiling face, of his gentle touch, was burned into my mind like a brand. He could be good. He could be loving. He could be responsible.

He just chose not to be... for me.

Because I was just a game. Because I was just a pastime. Because I was the woman he slept with for fun, and she was the woman he chose to build a future with.

The realization hit me harder than any physical pain I had ever experienced. It was a slow, agonizing death of my soul.

I clutched my stomach tightly, feeling the small life moving inside me, reminding me that I wasn't doing this just for myself anymore. I had to protect this child. I had to save him from a world that would never accept him, from a father who wanted him dead, and from a life of shame and misery.

And the only way to do that... was to disappear.

That night, I made the hardest decision of my life. I would leave everything behind. I would erase my existence from his life, and from the lives of everyone who knew us together. I would vanish into thin air, like I never existed at all.

If he wanted to play the winner, then fine. I would let him think he won completely. I would let him think that I gave up, that I was too weak to survive, that I disappeared out of shame.

Little did he know, I was leaving to become stronger. I was leaving to build an empire of love for my child, far away from his toxicity.

I packed my things in a single suitcase. There wasn't much to bring anyway. Just clothes, some documents, and the few memories I dared not to throw away but would keep hidden forever.

I looked around the tiny, shabby apartment that became my sanctuary for the past months. It was poor and simple, but it was here that I found courage. It was here that I learned how to bleed in silence.

“Goodbye, Kael,” I whispered into the empty room, my voice cold and detached. “You wanted me gone. You wanted our baby erased. Consider your wish granted. From now on, we are dead to you.”

I turned off my phone, removed the SIM card, and broke it into pieces, throwing it into the trash bin along with the old life I was leaving behind.

No goodbyes. No notes. No traces.

Just like that, Elara was gone.

Five Years Later

The warm breeze of the ocean brushed against my face as I stood on the balcony of our beautiful home. Five years. Five long years since I ran away. Five years since I decided to bury my past and start a new life.

I looked down at my hands, they were no longer trembling. They were strong. They were capable.

I had changed. A lot.

The fragile, naive girl who fell in love too hard was gone. In her place was a woman who was fierce, independent, and beautiful in her own right. I worked hard, studied hard, and built a name for myself in the design industry. I wasn't rich, but I was comfortable. I wasn't broken anymore, but I was scarred, and those scars were my armor.

“Mommy!”

A sweet, Liam voice called out to me. I turned around and a smile, the most genuine and brightest smile I could ever muster, spread across my face.

Running towards me was a little boy, around four years old. He had my eyes, but his features... oh God, his features were a perfect copy of his father. He was the spitting image of Kael. But his heart? His heart was pure, kind, and full of love. Just like mine.

“Liam! Come here, baby,” I opened my arms and he jumped into my embrace, hugging me tightly.

“I finished my milk, Mommy! See?” he said proudly, showing me his empty glass.

I kissed his forehead, inhaling his scent. He was my everything. He was my reason for living. He was the proof that even from the darkest night, something beautiful could be born.

“Good boy. I’m so proud of you,” I whispered, holding him close.

Looking at Liam, I never regretted keeping him. Even though every time I looked at him, I saw the man who destroyed me, I also saw innocence. I saw hope.

“Mommy, why don't we have a Daddy?” Liam asked suddenly, looking up at me with his big, curious eyes. “My friends have Daddies. They go to park with them. Do I not have one?”

The question hit me, but I was prepared. I smiled sadly and brushed my fingers through his soft hair.

“We have each other, baby. That’s enough, right? Mommy is your Mommy and your Daddy all in one. I love you twice as much,” I said softly.

Liam nodded happily and hugged me again. “Yes! I love you too, Mommy! You’re the best!”

As I held my son, my mind wandered back to the life I left behind. I often wondered... did Kael ever look for me? Did he ever ask where I went? Or was he happy that the nuisance was finally gone?

I tried to imagine him. He was probably married now to that woman. They probably had their child, or maybe more. They were living the perfect life he always wanted. The life he denied me.

Good for him. I wished him well... from a distance. As long as he didn't find us. As long as he left us alone.

I would rather live in this peaceful lie than go back to that hell of pain and rejection.

But fate... fate has a cruel way of working.

I thought I was safe. I thought that by moving to another country, by changing my number, by cutting off all connections, I was free. I was invisible.

But I forgot one thing. A man like Kael... a man who is used to getting everything he wants, a man who sees himself as a winner... he doesn't like loose ends.

And I... and Liam... we were the biggest loose end of his life.

Kael (author POV)

“Have you found her yet?”

The voice inside the office was cold, demanding, and laced with authority.

Kael sat behind his massive desk, looking out the window at the city he ruled. Five years had passed, and he had only become more powerful, more handsome, and more intimidating.

But something was missing.

He was married to Sophia, just like he planned. They had a daughter, a beautiful and healthy child. He had the perfect family, the perfect wife, the perfect life. Everyone envied him. Everyone said he was the luckiest man alive.

But every night, when he closed his eyes, he saw her face.

Elara.

He tried to forget her. He told himself she was just a fling. Just a game he played and won. He told himself he was glad she was gone. She was dramatic, clingy, and a problem he didn't need.

But why? Why was it that whenever he saw a girl with the same hair color as hers, his heart would skip a beat? Why did he feel this strange emptiness inside his chest?

“Sir, we tracked her last known location, but she left there five years ago. She completely vanished. It’s like she never existed,” his assistant reported nervously.

Kael’s jaw tightened. His hands clenched into fists.

“Vanished?” he muttered, anger rising inside him. “How can a person just vanish? I want to know where she is! I want to know what she did with... with that thing!”

He almost said 'our child', but the word tasted bitter in his mouth. Back then, he wanted it gone. He wanted it aborted. He was angry and arrogant. He wanted to prove he was in control.

But as the years went by, curiosity ate him alive. What happened? Did she do it? Did she kill their baby? Or did she run away with it?

The thought of Elara raising his child somewhere out there... drove him crazy.

“Find her,” he ordered sharply, his eyes turning dark and dangerous. “I don't care what you do. Find her. I need to know if she survived. I need to know if...”

He stopped. He couldn't admit it. He couldn't admit that deep down, a part of him regretted what he said. He couldn't admit that he wanted to see her one more time.

“Yes, Sir. We will do our best,” the assistant bowed and left.

Kael was left alone in the silence. He leaned back on his chair, closing his eyes.

“Just wait, Elara. Wherever you are hiding... I will find you. And when I do... you can’t run away anymore.”

Little did he know, the woman he was looking for was living a peaceful life far away, raising a son who looked exactly like him, a son who didn't even know his father's name.

And when they finally meet again... the game would not be over. It would only become more dangerous, more twisted, and more painful than ever before.

Because Elara was not the same girl he threw away. She was a mother now. And a mother protecting her child is the most dangerous creature in the world.

TO BE CONTINUE