Eight O'Clock In The Morning

Eight years ago, I broke the heart of the boy I loved. Now, after eight years overseas, Liam Hayes was finally coming home with his new girlfriend to meet his family. That same day, the hospital gave me its final answer. The cancer had won. There was nothing left to treat. Nothing left to try. They sent me home with only time. When Liam saw my mother helping me into a wheelchair, a cold smile touched his mouth. “Eight years,” he said. “And this is what became of you? You can’t even walk anymore?” Disgust laced every word. I only tugged the sleeve of my down coat lower, hiding the cluster of needle marks across the back of my hand. “It’s nothing,” I said quietly. “I fell and broke a bone. That’s all.” Liam gave a short, bitter laugh. “In that case, I’m getting married soon. Why don’t you come be my fiancée’s bridesmaid?” I smiled as if it did not hurt at all. “No, thank you. I’m about to leave for somewhere very far away.” Then I patted the back of Mom’s hand, silently asking her to take me home.

Eight years after running away pregnant, I found myself crossing paths with my ex-husband, Howard Quinn. His friends stared at me in surprise. "So, this is what you have become after leaving Howard? Reduced to a cleaner?" When I was six-months pregnant, I met with an accident. While I lay there, he was staying by the side of another woman, his so-called true love, in labor, never leaving her side. When I confronted him, in pieces, he looked at me bored and impatiently. "Don't be so jealous and petty. I have no time for you. As long as you behave, you'll always be Mrs. Quinn." I couldn't stand it any longer, so I ran away, staying away for eight long years. Now, those sharp eyes glared at me. "Have you had enough? If so, come home." What he didn't know was that my husband and daughter had already made dinner, waiting for me and my son to return home.

After waking up in a five-star hotel with no real memory of the night before and a black box full of fifty thousand dollars beside the bed, Audrey Holloway just wants to forget the whole thing ever happened. She deals with what she needs to, uses some of the money for rent, bills and groceries, gives a little to Nori, and tries to go back to her normal life. Two weeks later the same man walks into her restaurant like nothing happened. Turns out he’s this rich CEO with a bad reputation, and his grandfather is dying and basically forcing him to get married or lose the company. They argue every time they see each other until he offers her a one-year contract marriage. She says no at first. Then the pressure with her brother’s school stuff hits and she agrees. No love, no emotions, just business. They’re supposed to act perfect in public and go their separate ways after a year. But living together starts changing things. The arguments turn into something else. The distance gets smaller. And just when it starts feeling real, something from his past shows up and threatens to mess everything up. Sometimes the best love stories really do start with the worst mornings.

Vanessa Langley lay on my operating table, pregnant for the eighth time by the man she'd grown up with. This time, I didn't break down the way I had the previous seven. Instead I calmly closed the incision and went over the aftercare with her. Seven times I'd performed the procedure on my own wife because she was carrying another man's child. I had long since become the joke of the hospital, the story everyone traded over coffee. From getting pregnant by him to pressuring me into ending it, she always had a reason she considered perfectly respectable. This time, Vanessa's eyes reddened and she caught my sleeve. "Adrian, someone drugged Damian. I couldn't just leave him... "Don't worry, I'll end the pregnancy. You're my husband. You're the only man I'd ever have a child with." Even the nurses talked during the procedure, wondering whether I'd fold the way I always had, worn down by a few soft words and a few tears. But nobody knew we'd signed an agreement before the wedding. I gave Vanessa eight chances to get it wrong, and she had used them all. The agreement took effect, and every asset in her name passed to me.

After our eighty-eighth canceled wedding, I called my business partner. "I'm taking the Haviana market project." There was a beat of stunned silence. "Seriously? That's ten years overseas. You just got married—well, weren't you? Does your husband even know? What about your parents? You always said staying close to them was everything." I glanced around the empty church and let out a sharp laugh. "There was no wedding. No husband. And my parents? They've got Cindy. That's all they need." Another pause. "Alright. Pack your bags. You leave tomorrow." After the call, I ran a hand down my wedding dress. One last tear slipped out, quiet and pointless. Cindy had another "episode" today. Claimed she'd off herself. Andrew canceled—again. I'd looked at him, drained. "It's the eighty-eighth time." He dropped his head, guilt all over him. "Just a little more time, Viv. She's been off since the accident. I'm scared she'll actually do it. I swear, I'll talk to her. For real this time. Then we'll get married. Promise." My parents didn't hesitate. "Vivian, let Andrew go. If Cindy hadn't gotten kidnapped trying to save you, she wouldn't have these breakdowns. Are you really putting a wedding over your sister's life?" "How could you be so selfish?" I'd heard it all before. Used to fight it. Not this time. If neither my fiancé nor my parents wanted me around, then fine. I'd leave.

Just 8 years ago she had packed up the only life she knew and run away. Away from the clutches of her small town life. Now she is forced to go back to that pathetic place. She cursed under her breath as she got off at the railway station. She was back, the realization had finally hit her, her eyes moistened and her cheeks flushed. But she told herself that it was because of the cold wind. She won't cry, not now, or all she had done would be for nothing. She picked her bags, clutched their handles tightly and walked out of the railway station towards the parking spot. Mason was waiting for her there, the only person she still talks to from her hometown. He rushed upto her, took her bags, placed them in trunk and opened the car door for Cornelia. Once they both were settled and warm inside the car, he finally asked her, "How are u Cornelia?" This question sort of opened her tear doors, she started sobbing trying her best not to cry. ......................... A series of unfortunate events have pushed Cornelia Von back to her hometown. A place she willfully despises!! But there is an interesting new comer waiting for her in this town :)