CHAPTER FOUR: STOLEN MOMENTS AND SHATTERED TRUTHS

I could see Jace's hands trembling as he held the picture in his hand. His face lost all expressions as he stared more at it. I could not understand what I was feeling. I had wanted to leave this world but I was certain that I didn't want to go like this. 

We heard footsteps stepping away from the door for a while and we knew they were gone. We sat in silence for what felt like hours, wondering what we would do.

We were still contemplating what we could do and next, we heard another knock that shattered our thoughts and put fear in us. 

"Amara Kane?' The voice rang out from the other side of the door. It was a brutal voice and I could not stop myself from being scared. 

"FBI. Open up.”

Jace moved his head towards me speedily, "do not open it" he said. I could tell that he was still paranoid over what had happened earlier and he had every right to be. 

"You do not even know who they are," I said, determined that I was not going to allow fear to take the best of me. 

"Of course I do," Jace answered softly. "They are not the FBI." 

My stomacher turned at his words. "Okay, I hope you know that you are scaring me." 

“Good, You should be scared. Here is how you will know that they are not FBI, next they will start pounding and you have committed no crime that would make the real FBI act like that." 

As if on cue, they started pounding and my eyes immediately moved to the fire escape because I knew that door would  not hold them out for very long. 

“Do you have a bag?” Jace asked, already pulling on his jacket. “We need to go. Now.”

We ran through the alleyways, fleeing the scene they thought we were in and in the dark, our shadows were being swallowed whole. My legs were aching but Jace never let go of my hand. He was determined to make sure that nothing bad happened to me and I could only be more excited with his actions 

After we had gotten to three rooftops away, we finally ducked into an abandoned auto garage, both of us breathing hard and hoping that we were not followed. 

"I desperately pray those people will not be able to find us," I muttered under my breath but Jace had heard me. 

"I hope so too. Those people were definitely not the government. But who the hell are they?" He asked and I knew the answer. 

"I think I do," again I muttered under my breath but he heard me. 

"Who?" 

And then I opened up to him. Before you met me, I had opened a document that the password was Ava. I don't know how I knew that would be the password but I had heard you mutter that name before in your sleep, so I just keyed it in. 

When the folder opened, I saw a lot of files in different languages that I did not fully understand. There were internal project codes, encrypted files and one was labeled Project Aether with red exclamation marks beside it. 

When I opened it, I saw a lot of things. Blueprint, algorithms, several audio files and a video. I played the video and it was a surveillance tape. In the tape, you and this woman were standing at a lab. You were arguing and the woman who had long braids, slim build and a very sharp voice was shouting. 

In her words, if this should get out, it won't just take SteeleTech down, the whole world would burn.

"Then let it burn," Liam said and her eyes turned red. She leaned in and said, "then you are a dead man." 

When I had finished talking, I looked at him and he looked deep in thought. 

"I remember the name Ava.' 

"That's because you were going to expose her and I think she is the one that tried to kill you and sent these men to finish up the task." 

His hand went to his temple again, like it hurt to remember. “I think… I was trying to stop them. Or maybe… I was them.”

I stood, breath shaky. “We need to go to the press. Or the cops.”

His voice dropped. “No. If Ava sees this coming, she’ll wipe the rest of it clean. And us, too.”

Silence wrapped around us. Then — he turned to me, eyes softer. “You shouldn’t have gotten involved.”

I knew I should not have but looking at him, I was not regretting my actions. "Maybe but it's already too late and I can't leave now, I don't want to." I said, making sure that he did not doubt any of my words. 

He reached for my hand, his face getting soft as he held it. "You risked your life for me."

"I know, but I had a strong feeling that you would have done the same for me." 

He chuckled, "I am not sure I am that kind of man,' he added. 

"Well, I know that you are now." 

The way he looked at me made me weak to my knees, it felt like he was extremely sure that I was the one thing that kept him tethered to this world. His face was still soft when he learned it. I could see the hesitation in his eyes but I also knew that I wanted this, even when it seemed like he did not want to ruin the moment. 

So I met him halfway and sealed the kiss.  Our lips touched — soft, electric, unspoken feelings crashing between us. It wasn’t just a kiss. It was two broken people clinging to the only truth they had left: each other.

When we pulled apart, his voice was extremely low and raw. "I can't remember my past Amara but I know one thing, when I look at you I feel something that I had never felt before and I know that in every lifetime, I would still choose you." 

I stood silent, not knowing what to say but allowing my eyes to do all the talking. "I want a life with you, I want to build something new with you, a future. Even if my memories do come back or even if they don't, I still want you"

My heart twisted. “Are you asking me to—?”

“Marry me.”

My breath caught. He dropped to one knee — right there, in the dirt and shadows.

"I apologize, right now, I do not have a ring or even a name that I can trust but I promise you that I will protect you till my very last breath." 

I laughed through the tears. “You really want to marry me in hiding?”

“Desperately.”

And I said the only word I could.

“Yes.”

It felt strange. I met this man a few days ago and somehow, I just knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. It didn't take us long before we found an old cabin off the grid and we stayed there for days, making love under the sunset, talking for hours, planning our future, doing everything lovers do and having the best time of our lives. 

In that cabin, we planned a very quiet wedding. It was just us, a local officiant and some vows that we did not need a memory before we could write. Everything seemed like a fairytale, perfect and without any flaw 

We found an old cabin off the grid and planned for a simple wedding with no guest, just us and a local officiant. For our vows, we decided to speak from our hearts and it was memorable. 

My heart swelled and was filled with joy, I should have guessed that it was too good to be true. The night after the ceremony, everything changed. The handsome simple man I had fallen in love with became cold and distant. He looked like a different person, as if something in him had snapped 

"Babe, what's the matter?" I asked as I moved closer to him. 

“I need air,” he said, avoiding my eyes.

"What do you mean?" I asked, touching his arm and praying that he would at least look at me but he pulled away, like my touch disgusted him. 

He stared at me like I was a stranger. “This was a mistake.”

I froze, "what?" Was all I could mutter out. 

“You were a distraction. I can’t afford distractions.”

I didn't know exactly what he meant but his words cut like a knife. "Jace, you don't mean that, " I said , trying to force a smile.

"Stop fucking calling me that. My name is Liam!" He screamed and I recoiled. "Look, I should have left after you pulled me from that car. This was a complete waste of my time, time that you are not worth."

Tears burned my eyes. “Why are you saying this? Is it something I did?”

“No. It’s who you are. You are a nobody, a reject of society. I am nothing like you. I am a king in my kingdom and I cannot be with someone as pathetic as you." 

I slapped him then — not out of rage, but heartbreak. “I loved you. You said you loved me.”

He scoffed. “I don’t even know what love means.” And then he walked out.

No apology. No backward glance. Just silence.

I could not move from the position he left me in, could not even utter a single word and so I fell to my knees and cried myself to sleep on the cold hard floor. By the time I woke up, the ring he gave me sat on the table, he didn't take it. 

By noon, I knew he would never come back. I didn't just cry, I was shattered. Still, it seemed as if fate was not done playing with me. A few hours later after having thrown up for the 10th time that morning, I was standing at a drugstore bathroom staring at the two pink lines as my brain screamed, "how can I be pregnant?" 

And not just pregnant, I was carrying the child of a man who left me broken. I laid on the floor begging God to bring him back. God must have heard my prayers cause almost immediately, he called.