ReinaThe house has always been this quiet in the past few days. The kind of quiet that made every creak of the floorboards and every faint rustle outside feel like something heavy. I sat at the kitchen table, staring at the unknown number on my phone screen. My hands were trembling as I read the message again.“You’re in over your head, Mrs. Reina. Tell your husband to back off and leave Japan or you will both regret it.I had seen my fair share of threats in my career. The angry competitors, disgruntled clients, jealous rivals but this was different and more dangerous. I knew Ethan was in danger. I knew I was in danger. But what chilled me to the bone was the realization that whoever sent this message didn’t just know about us, they were watching us. They had their eyes on us. I felt like I was suffocating, the walls of the house closing in around me. I needed air. I needed to breathe. I ran outside so that I wouldn't faint and the cool night breeze kept on hitting my face as I
Reina I was scared to death, unaware of what to do. Ethan had been yelling at me that I should call the cops. “Call the cops now! Reina!” I wish I could. My hands were shaking and I could not dial the number correctly. When I was able to call the cops, the line operator answered and I heard a faint knock at the back door. My breath caught in my throat.“Reina?” Ethan’s voice came in again. I knew he heard the noise. “They are at the back door,” I whispered with tears streaming down my face. I could not believe that I would be crying this minute. See what we have gotten ourselves into. “Get out of there,” he said. “Now.”“I can’t. It's not that easy,” I said, my voice barely audible.“Then hide,” he said. “Go somewhere safe and stay there until the police arrive. I’m on my way, Reina. I promise.”On your way? Oh, Ethan. I know that you haven't booked a flight yet even though you pleaded with me that you will book the next available flight. I hung up and bolted toward the pantr
EthanI could not sit still. Not after everything that has been happening.My fingers drummed against the edge of the hotel desk as my eyes looked towards the door for the hundredth time. I had double-checked the lock, slid the chain in place, and even propped a chair under the handle. But it was not enough. Not when I knew someone was following me.All these things felt like deja vu because something like this has happened to me before I moved to the country my family is in. Why was all these messing up with my life? “They have been watching us. There are cameras in the house.” I remembered Reina's words. And now this being tailed by a black car, the creeping feeling that every step I took was being tracked. I ran my hands through my hair and each strand was damp with sweat. I felt trapped and powerless, and it was eating me alive.My phone buzzed on the desk. I snatched it up, my heart pounding, hoping it was Reina. It was not.It was Carl. He never backed down even when I told
EthanAfter making the decision of returning home from Japan, I also made another difficult decision. I resigned from my job. The Job that was too good to be true. The same job that made me fight with my wife. Resigning from my position was a thought I never entertained until today. Sitting at the edge of my bed, I stared at my resignation letter on the laptop screen.The decision was clear. Since the job was the thing giving me all these troubles, I have no choice but to do away with it. A knock on the door startled me and my heart leaped. Truth be told, the events of the past few days have been making me jumpy. I have become more cautious of everything. I hesitated before walking to the door and peeking through the peephole. It was Carl.“Open up, Ethan. It’s just me. Don't be scared, asshole!” he said, his voice barely audible through the wood.I unlocked the door and let him in. He stepped inside, his face tight with worry.“You look like you haven’t slept in days,” he said
EthanI was already at the airport and the airplane wheels touched down with a jolt, snapping me out of my restless daze. I had not slept for more than an hour during the flight back home and I felt really exhausted. My chest tightened with every thought of Reina and Andrew.Would they be okay? Was this really over?As the passengers began shuffling to their feet, I stayed seated, gripping the armrests like they might keep me stable. Only when the flight attendant gave me a polite but insistent look did I unbuckle and stand.I walked through the terminal on autopilot with my suitcase rolling behind me. I spotted Reina immediately. She stood near the arrivals area, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. Her face lit up when she saw me. “Ethan. My sweet love. You are back,” she yelled out with so much excitement. I closed the distance between us in a few long strides, pulling her into my arms. For a moment, we stood there, holding each other tightly, as if the world around us
EthanI kept to my words and I contacted Louis who told me where to meet him. Although, Louis made it clear to me that he had long retired from anything detective but he would help me. I arrived at the address a few minutes early and my nerves were already unraveling as I scanned the quiet parking lot.Where he told me to meet him was a small, rundown place on the outskirts of town, the kind of spot where no one asked questions. It was Perfect for this kind of meeting.The fluorescent lights inside flickered slowly as I stepped through the door, and some weird aroma hit my nostrils. I hated the smell. If I knew that this was what I would meet with, I would have worn a mask. A couple of people sat in a booth near the back and they were having loud conversations. My eyes moved around until they landed on Louis who was seated at a corner table with his back to the wall.He had not changed much since the last time I had seen him. He still had the same gray hair, same sharp eyes that
EthanI sat on the edge of the bed with my head in my hands. I have made a lot of terrible decisions and now the consequences have come crashing down on me. The room was dark, but even in the shadows, I could see the mess I had made of my life.How did it come to this? How did I become this man? The man who let his family slip through his fingers, who made promises he could not keep. I thought I was doing the right thing when I took that job. Becoming more rich and putting my name on the top richest chart was what I wanted. But now… now I have lost everything that matters.I betrayed Reina. Not just with that night I can’t erase, but with every lie I told to cover it up. I thought I could protect her, shield her from the storm I had created. But she saw through me, she always does. And Andrew… God, what kind of example have I set for my son?Tears burned my eyes, and I didn’t fight them. I deserved this. The shame, the guilt, the fear. I deserved to feel every ounce of it.“I’m so
ReinaArriving there, the house I saw was everything we had dreamed of. It was gigantic with a lot of massive windows that enabled light to go through it. I had a liking for it already and didn't mind if we were going to live here for the rest of our lives. “It looks good. Why don't we pay for it? Relocating doesn't seem that bad. Besides, it's in another city.”“Sure. I will pay for it. I don't mind either. It's just sad that we keep running away from a lot of things. Both the unknown and the known.”“It's tiring, sweetheart. But what can we do? We are humans and we will always have a lot of problems.”Ethan shook his head while I kept admiring the building. The living room had very high ceilings and the furniture looked new and neat. The walls on the other hand were painted white and the floors were sparkling white that it gleamed as if they had never been walked on. The other me would have pushed against going to another city but when our lives were at stake, I could not say an
Ethan “ A therapist? We are going to see a therapist, Ethan?” Reina blurted out and I had to calm her down that it's for the better. “Yes. I made that decision and I have already paid for a session. It is a good thing and I think our marriage will get better.” “Oh dear. I'm just scared.” *** Sitting across from Reina in the therapist’s office felt a little weird and I was trying to keep up. This was the first time we had actually met with a therapist about us. The therapist, a calm woman in her mid-50s named Dr. Laura smiled gently at us. “Thank you for coming today. The first step to healing is often the hardest, so I commend you both for being here.” I glanced at Reina, who gave me a small, nervous smile. “We are ready,” I said, squeezing her hand. “Good. Why don’t we start with why you’re here? What made you decide to seek therapy now?” Dr. Laura asked. I looked at Reina, silently asking if she wanted to go first. She nodded and took a deep breath. “I think we h
Reina Evans was at my house again. This time, I was very convinced that he had something off his sleeves. How can someone who I haven't seen in years suddenly show up in the new country where I relocated to? Has he been stalking me all these years? Evans stood at the door, his hands shoved in his pockets, and today he looked so confident in himself. But, I was here to destroy whatever confidence he had. I had hoped I would see the last of him after his first visit, but here he was again, uninvited and unwelcome. “What are you doing here again, Evans? Haven't I told you that I don't want you around me?” I thundered and my pulse was racing. “I needed to talk to you,” he responded calmly, despite my raging anger. “I don’t think we got to finish our conversation the last time.” “There’s nothing left to talk about,” I said, stepping out onto the porch and closing the door behind me. I didn’t want Ethan or Andrew overhearing any of this. “Reina, please,” he said, his eyes pleadin
Ethan I didn’t know where I was driving. I just needed to get out of the house. My hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, my mind racing with thoughts of Reina, Evans, and everything that had gone wrong. Evans. Just hearing his name made my blood boil. The nerve of him to show up out of nowhere, to text me like he was some concerned friend. And Reina, why hadn’t she told me right away? She keeps doing things like this and it pisses me off. She of all people knows that something like this was the cause of our problem sometime ago. I pulled into an empty parking lot and turned off the engine. When I finally walked back into the house hours later, the living room was dimly lit, and Reina was sitting on the couch, her knees pulled up to her chest. She looked up as I entered, her eyes red and puffy. “You are back,” she said softly. I didn’t answer, dropping my keys on the table and heading for the kitchen. “Ethan,” she called after me with her voice trembling. I paused, leani
ReinaI was wiping down the kitchen counter when the doorbell rang. Andrew was upstairs, resting after a long day of physical therapy, and Ethan had stepped out to pick up a few things from the store.It was odd for someone to come by unannounced, especially at this hour. I wiped my hands on a towel and I headed for the door to check who was there. I was so curious and at the same time cautious that I checked the security camera three times. When I opened it, my heart stopped. I thought I was dreaming or something. “Evans,” I whispered, gripping the doorframe right. He was standing there, looking exactly as I remembered him. He was quite tall, with those piercing blue eyes and well shaved beards. But seeing him now didn’t fill me with the same warmth it once did. Instead, it felt like a bucket of cold water had been splashed over me.“Reina,” he said, his voice soft but steady. “I hope I’m not intruding.”“What are you doing here?” I asked, my voice sharper than I intended. He w
Ethan “Our anniversary was tomorrow?!” That was my exact reaction when I checked the calendar and I saw that I had long forgotten the date of our anniversary . An idea had come to me while sitting in the car, waiting for Reina to return from the grocery store. Our anniversary was tomorrow, and I wanted to do something special. Something that would remind her of the good times we had shared before everything got complicated.I had been racking my brain all week, trying to come up with the perfect plan. Reina deserved something meaningful, something that was not just flowers and a card. She needed to see how much she meant to me.“Okay, Ethan,” I muttered to myself as I parked in front of the house. “You will get our way around this.”The plan was simple yet heartfelt. I was planning a surprise dinner at the place where we had had our first official date before we got married. It was not the fanciest restaurant, but it held a special place in our hearts. I had reserved a private cor
Reina“I want to support you,” he said. “In everything. Just tell me how.”“I will of course. You have to write me some checks,” I responded and winked at him. I sat there, my coffee cup in hand, still warm but untouched. My mind was racing. So much had happened in the past few days. Andrew’s illness, the fear, the worry and now, with him finally waking up and starting his recovery, things were slowly returning to normal.But there was something else on my mind. It was Ethan. He had changed. In the best way possible. After everything that had happened, after all the mistakes, I hadn’t expected this. I could not help but worry about how he had been surprising me with little gestures. The breakfast in bed, sweet notes hidden in my purse or jacket pocket. He was not perfect, and neither was I, but somehow, it felt like we were slowly finding our way back to each other. We were slowly finding out long lost love. I glanced at the note I found this morning. It was simple, yet the word
Reina“Are you going to work today?” Ethan’s voice broke the silence at breakfast.I glanced up from my plate, startled by his tone. It was not the regular cold or distant tone and it was almost… soft. He had been trying to be different lately especially after Andrew's was back from the hospital and I didn’t know how to feel about it.“I’m not sure,” I replied, poking at my food. “I might work from home.”“Good,” he said. “You have been stressing yourself. You need rest.”I blinked, unsure of how to respond. This was not the Ethan who used to complain about my hours or make sarcastic remarks. I kept quiet and continued eating.When I returned to the bedroom later that morning, something caught my eye. There was a tray on the bed. I could not remember keeping any tray on my bed. I also noticed that there was a cup of tea, a bowl of fruit, and a small note on the bed. The note read:“ You have been carrying too much on yourself lately. Let me take some of the weight. Allow me.”I s
Reina POV“Do you think he’ll wake up today?” Ethan’s voice broke the stillness of the room.The room was quiet as usual and even if a pin dropped to the floor it would be heard. I glanced at Andrew, who was still lying on the hospital bed. He was looking fragile as always and the machines were still giving him the support that he needed. “I have no idea, sweetheart. I wish he could wake up today. It would be a relief. Don't you think so?”I asked and I reached out to brush a strand of hair off his forehead. “I want that to happen too. It would be a miracle.”“He has to wake up,” I said firmly, though my heart trembled with some doubts. I was uncertain about what was happening. “I can feel it. He is going to open those eyes and look at us.”Ethan sighed, leaning back in his chair. “I wish I had your faith.”I turned to him, my eyes narrowing. I was the most pessimistic person but, somehow I had a little faith in me. “You do. You are just scared to admit it.”He stared at me for a
Reina POV The hospital was lit with some fluorescent lights and I was having chills all over my body as I remained there. I was just like a patient who was admitted there. I hated hospitals. Who doesn't, by the way? By this time of the day, the hospital was quiet and the silence was not really comforting. It just kept reminding me that there was a battle Andrew had to fight alone. I didn’t think it was possible to feel this helpless. Sitting in that chair, watching my son fight for his life, knowing there was nothing I could do but wait, it was agony. Ethan was not himself. He was pacing around the room again. “You are going to create a hole in the floor if you don't stop,” I murmured to him. My voice was low and strained. He stopped mid-step, turning to look at me. “I can’t sit still,” he admitted. “Not when he’s in there, fighting for his life.” “I know how you feel Ethan. I feel the same way. ” I said, more to myself than to him. “He has to be strong so that he can com