Chapter 4

KAEL POV____

Kael stood by the large window of his office, staring blankly at the busy city below. Five years. Five long years had passed since Elara walked out of his life, or rather, since he pushed her away.

He had everything a man could ever dream of. Wealth, power, status, and a "perfect" family. He was married to Sophia, the woman he chose over Elara. The woman who was supposed to be his future. They had a daughter, Angelica, who was now four years old.

Everyone told him he was lucky. Everyone said he made the right choice. He had a respectable family, unlike the messy situation he would have had with Elara.

But why? Why did he feel so empty?

Every night, he would wake up sweating, haunted by memories. Memories of Elara’s tearful eyes. The way she looked at him with so much love, only to be crushed by his cruelty.

“I won, Elara. And you lost everything.”

He used to say those words with pride. But now, they echoed in his mind like a curse. Slowly, he was starting to realize... maybe he didn't win. Maybe he lost the most precious thing he ever had.

The sound of the office door opening pulled him out of his thoughts. He turned around, expecting his assistant, but it was Sophia. His wife.

She looked beautiful as always, but lately, there was a strange distance between them. She was always nervous, always hiding something.

“Kael... can we talk?” she asked, her voice trembling slightly. She was holding a folder in her hands, looking pale and terrified.

Kael frowned, sensing something wrong. “What is it? Is Angelica okay?”

“She’s fine...” she whispered, tears starting to fall from her eyes. “But Kael... there’s something I need to tell you. Something I’ve been hiding from you for a very long time.”

Her behavior made his blood run cold. A bad feeling crept up his spine. “What are you talking about, Sophia? Spit it out.”

She walked closer and handed him the folder with trembling hands. “I... I was scared to tell you. I was scared you would leave me. But I can’t lie to you anymore. It’s eating me alive.”

Kael took the folder and opened it slowly. Inside were documents. Medical documents. DNA Test results.

His eyes scanned the papers, reading word by word, line by line. And with every word he read, the world around him seemed to crumble and fall apart.

“Result: Not biologically related to the alleged father.”

He read it again. And again. And again.

His hands started to shake violently. The papers slipped from his grasp and scattered on the floor like fallen leaves.

“What...” his voice was hoarse, barely a whisper. “What is this, Sophia?”

She broke down crying, covering her face. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, Kael! Before we got married... I was with someone else! I didn’t know I was pregnant until after we started dating! I thought... I thought it was yours! But when Angelica was born, her blood type didn’t match, so I did a test secretly... and it’s true. She’s not your daughter, Kael. She’s not yours.”

BOOM.

It felt like a thunderbolt struck him directly in the chest. The pain was so intense, so violent, that he couldn't breathe. He staggered back, leaning against his desk to support himself.

Not his?

The child he raised for four years. The child he loved, provided for, and cared for... wasn't even his own blood?

All this time... he was raising another man’s child?

“YOU BITCH!” he roared, the anger exploding inside him like a volcano. He grabbed the vase on his desk and smashed it against the wall, shattering it into pieces. “HOW COULD YOU LIE TO ME FOR SO LONG?! HOW DARE YOU MAKE A FOOL OUT OF ME?!”

“I’m sorry! I love you! Please forgive me!” Sophia cried, kneeling on the floor begging.

But Kael couldn't hear anything anymore. His mind was spinning, and suddenly, one name flashed in his mind like a blazing fire.

Elara.

Oh God... Elara!

His legs almost gave out as the realization hit him with the force of a truck.

Elara was pregnant with his child. She came to him, honest and sincere, telling him she was carrying his baby. And what did he do?

He insulted her. He called her names. He told her it was just sex. He told her to abort the baby. He told her she lost the game.

And now... now he found out that the child he chose to keep and raise... wasn't even his!

He destroyed the woman who carried his real child. He broke the heart of the only woman who truly loved him. He threw away his own flesh and blood just to be with a woman who lied to him and gave him someone else's child!

“HAHAHAHA!” He laughed maniacally, but there was no joy in it, only pain and madness. Tears streamed down his face uncontrollably. “Oh my God... what have I done?!”

He fell to his knees, sobbing like a child. The pain was unbearable. It was worse than death.

“Elara... I’m sorry... I’m so sorry...” he whispered, his heart shattering into millions of pieces.

He remembered her face full of hope. He remembered her saying, “It’s your child, Kael.”

And he rejected it. He killed it in his words. He treated her like trash.

And now, karma has bitten him back so hard. He had everything, yet he had nothing. He had a wife, but she was a liar. He had a child, but it wasn't his. And he lost the one woman who was real. The one woman who gave herself to him completely without asking for anything but love.

“Find her!” he shouted, standing up, his face red and wet with tears. “I want you to find her! Now! Burn this city down if  this is a way to Find Elara!”

His assistants and security were terrified, but they moved immediately. They had never seen their boss like this. Broken. Desperate.

Days turned into weeks, and Kael’s life turned into hell. He couldn't sleep. He couldn't eat. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Elara crying.

He went to her old friends, her family, everyone who knew her. But no one knew where she was. It was like she vanished from the face of the earth.

“Please... tell me where she is,” he begged one of her old friends, his pride completely gone. “I made a mistake. I hurt her. I need to apologize. I need to know if my child is alive.”

“She doesn’t want to see you,” her friend said coldly, looking at him with disgust. “You broke her, Kael. You told her to abort the baby. You told her she was just a game. Why are you looking for her now? Because your other woman lied to you? It’s too late. She’s gone. She left because she wanted to survive. And you... you deserve this pain.”

Those words were like salt poured on his open wounds.

He knew it. He knew he deserved it. He deserved every single bit of suffering he was feeling right now.

He went back to the old condo they used to share. It was empty now, but he could still smell her scent. He sat on the floor where she used to sit, and he cried.

“Elara... please... come back,” he sobbed, hugging his knees. “I was wrong. I was such a fool. I didn't know what I had until I lost it. I threw away a diamond while playing with stones.”

He realized now. He realized that love wasn't about status or convenience. It was about sincerity. And Elara had given him that. She gave him pure love, and he crushed it.

And now... he didn't even know if his child was alive. Did she keep it? Or did his cruel words force her to get rid of it?

The thought that he might have killed his own child because of his arrogance... drove him insane.

“I’m sorry... I’m so sorry, my baby... I’m sorry, Elara...”

He spent his days and nights drinking, drowning in regret. The powerful, arrogant Kael was gone. In his place was a broken man who had lost everything that truly mattered.

He won the game, they said.

But no. He lost. He lost everything.

And the worst part? He didn't know where to find her. She was gone. She hid herself well. She erased her existence from his life.

And he was left alone in his big, empty house, with a wife he didn't trust, a child that wasn't his, and a heart full of pain and regret that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

TO BE CONTINUE..