GregoryThe voice is echoing in my head. My throat became as dry as a desert, and when I finally managed to respond, the words scratched intensely against my throat.“What did you say?”“Mrs. Mayo Clinic hospitalized Emma, and she asked me to inform her husband of her location.“What?” I must have looked like a complete idiot after hearing those words, but for someone who had disappeared so suddenly, it was difficult to believe that Emma herself was revealing her whereabouts.Unless something grave had happened.“What happened? Why is Emma in the hospital?”“I need to hang up, sir.”A deafening silence came from the other end of the line, and I stared at my phone screen, unable to believe that this was actually happening. The call had ended, leaving my mind messy. What if this was just another trap set by Edward? Maybe he was luring me in to cause another accident and get me out of the way for good.There was no other way to find out—I had to take the risk.Emma was only a few kilomet
“I sent the message, Mrs. Emma,” he whispered to me, then changed the IV in my arm and prepared to leave.I liked the discreet way the man handled the matter. He simply did what I asked without questioning my motives. Perhaps the presence of two men dressed in black outside my room answered everything. I was being held captive in the best hospital in the country, all financed by Edward.“When will I be discharged?” I asked before he left.“Only the doctor can answer that question, ma’am,” he replied, organizing all the medication into a basket and preparing to leave me alone once again. “I hope your husband finds you before then. Good luck.”He left, leaving me alone once more. I pressed my fingers together, feeling my body heat up from the mix of emotions inside me. Anger at Edward for keeping me here, hope that Gregory would arrive in time, sadness for losing my child. That last fact always made me cry. I always looked at myself and cried when I remembered I no longer had that child
Gregory.It had been many years since I last set foot in a hospital. I didn’t visit Grandpa even during his months-long hospitalization, and consequently, his contempt for me increased during the final months of his life.The smell of the place brought back terrible memories. The last time I had entered a place like this was when my parents died.My feet suddenly froze, and I looked into Samantha’s eyes, thinking I wouldn’t be able to go on. After my parents’ death, everything in my life became chaos, and now, recalling it all, it felt as if I couldn’t move forward.“What happened, Mr. Gregory?” Samantha’s voice brought me back. I had been right to bring her with me.“It’s nothing,” I lied, though her expression showed her disbelief. I forced myself to continue, one step at a time, until I stood in front of the guard.I hadn’t thought of a plan, and I only realized it when I reached that point. Not only that, but I remained silent, staring at the man in front of me, unsure of what to
GregoryThey took me back to the room while Gregory remained behind, his gaze lost. We exchanged no words, only the silence of a long time spent apart.There was nothing I could say. I ran away from him, wanting a new life far from his infidelity, and then I ran back, begging him to save me from my stubbornness. Everything that had happened was my fault. I trusted Edward, even after hearing Gregory say he was a terrible person.The nurses treated my wounds, but the pain in my chest was even greater—one that no one could heal. When they left, I saw the figure of a short woman in simple clothes enter my room. Samantha approached with tears in her eyes, barely believing that we had reunited.“I believed I would never see you again,” she covered her mouth, muffling her sobs, while I followed the rhythm of her crying.Before I knew it, we were both crying.We hugged and stayed like that for a while. When Samantha pulled away, now a little calmer, I realized I had abandoned some kind of aff
GregoryHow selfish of me to remain numb while Emma wept over the death of our child. It was as if she carried all the blame, and my previous words had done nothing to lessen the weight crushing her heart.Slowly, I approached her as if it were the first time I had ever done so, and with one hand, I rested it on her back, which trembled in sync with the intensifying of her sobs. Emma—the most stubborn woman I had ever known—now so fragile.“It wasn’t your fault, Emma,” I said, feeling a knot tightening in my throat.Would I be a coward if I cried for a child I never even met?“If I hadn’t gone with Edward, this wouldn’t have happened.” I fixed my eyes on her and sharpened my hearing to carefully catch her next words. “He found out I was messaging you. We had an argument, and he pushed me.”My eyes widened, and my blood boiled inside me. Hearing her account sent involuntary chills through my body.“That damned son of a bitch,” I clenched my fist, wishing Edward were right in front of m
EmmaI opened my eyes, and the first face I saw was Gregory’s. I could hardly imagine that he had spent the entire night by my side, and judging by his expression, he hadn’t slept at all. There were dark circles around his beautiful eyes, and he looked so exhausted that I even felt sorry for him.He quickly got up when he saw me wake and tried to help me sit up, but I didn’t let him. I pulled my hand away swiftly, preventing him from touching me. Gregory clenched his jaw, and my gesture was an offense to him.I should have been a little more grateful that he was here, taking care of me. In the past, Gregory would have abandoned me in this hospital without a second thought, but now he was trying.“You should go somewhere and rest,” I said as I swung my legs off the bed and looked at him. “I can stay alone for a few hours.”“I’m not going anywhere, Emma,” he said with such determination that it startled me.Gregory didn’t look me in the eye at any moment. He kept his hands away from me,
GregoryDivorce. I couldn’t forget those words. I really thought Emma would give up on divorcing me when we met again, but I was wrong. Although I had the opportunity, I didn’t challenge her; instead, I accepted her demands unquestionably.Robert called me that night and asked me to meet him at the hospital the next day to sign the papers. Emma had done what I asked her to do, and that was what was making me angry.I didn’t even have the courage to stay by her side after the difficult conversation we had. Samantha was there, and if Edward dared to approach Emma, I would rush to protect her. It was strange, this realization. I was about to divorce her, and yet I still wanted to keep her safe.I arrived early at the hospital but stayed at the reception, waiting for Robert to arrive. If anyone should be asking for a divorce, it should be me. I was the one who bought her and forced her to marry me. I was the one who accepted her deal, promising to set her free once everything was settled
Emma.I was looking at the torn divorce agreement, scattered across the floor, and didn’t notice Gregory approaching until he grabbed me in his arms in a tight, intense hug. I could hear the rapid beats of his heart. He breathed raggedly, as if he had just run a marathon.Paralysis seized me; I couldn’t react. What was happening to Gregory? I no longer recognized him.“I have another divorce agreement here,” Robert’s voice settled between us like a hand pushing us apart. “I told you, you can tear up as many as you want.”I inwardly mourned when Gregory pulled away, breaking the comforting warmth of his body from mine. He cast a strange look at Robert and, in a calm voice, said,“Please, Robert, leave.”Robert looked at me with a disbelieving smile on his face, then at Gregory, and finally gathered his things and left. Gregory remained with his head lowered in silence, thinking about his next words, while I had my speech ready on the tip of my tongue.“You agreed to sign the divorce,”
GregoryI noticed when Edward kissed Emma and when she pushed him away, confessing her love for me. That was what frozen my legs at first and stopped me from going at him. I saw Emma’s ability to defend herself, to handle the situation on her own, and I felt proud of her, but now it was my turn to defend my family and put Edward in his place.I intended to break every tooth in that bastard’s mouth. Not only that, but I had been holding on to resentment against Edward for a long time. He blamed me for our parents’ deaths and said I would pay for it when he made my life a living hell. And he had been doing that ever since our grandfather died.Now he was saying he would take Emma from me, the only good thing I had left. But Edward didn’t know my dark side—not yet. He was mistaken if he thought I would let that happen.“Stop this, Gregory.” Emma held my arm, her eyes filled with tears, fear hovering over her beautifu
Emma.I looked around to see if any faces were familiar. Then I looked at Gregory, who had a bloodied forehead. Who would want to kill him, and why? We were in Spain; no one knew us or had any reason to hate us.Maybe I was too innocent, or perhaps I couldn’t think clearly in the face of adrenaline and the fear of something worse happening to Gregory. When the ambulance arrived, the police came along. I didn’t speak their language and couldn’t understand what they were saying.“Ma’am, what he’s trying to ask is whether you noted the license plate or recognized the driver.” One officer spoke my language, but I didn’t know exactly how to respond.“I didn’t see anything. I didn’t even see when the vehicle approached. You should talk to my husband.”My hands were trembling, and I felt like I wouldn’t be able to stand for much longer. I looked at Gregory, covered in blood, lyi
Before the accident.Emma.I entered Gregory’s dark room, and he dressed without any ceremony in front of me, calm and calculating, knowing exactly what that action would cause in me. This time, I didn’t turn my face away—I looked at every detail of his body, every curve, every muscle moving as he put on his clothes.Once dressed, he approached me again, and there was a distinct glow in his eyes, something I had never seen a trace of before.“We need to talk,” he said while buttoning up his white shirt, and I kept thinking that maybe those words should have been mine.“Talk about what?” I asked when his eyes locked onto mine.I could barely breathe when Gregory got too close, only a few centimeters away, and I felt that his mouth would touch mine at any moment. Deep down, I wished it would happen.“Are you asking for my help just out of fear?” he whispered, and it was as if my legs
Edward.“Mr. Edward, that beautiful woman would like to meet you,” the heiress of one of the wealthiest families in the city, was smiling at me. She was just as pretentious as she seemed. Eager and desperate to make a connection with me. I smiled, but suddenly, my mind betrayed me, and the beautiful woman’s face transformed into something else.I shook my head, thinking I was going crazy. Why, after all, was I seeing Emma in that woman’s face?I looked at my wineglass and considered that it might be time to stop drinking so much. I shoved my hands into my pockets and looked around. The charity gala was in full swing. Filled with champagne glasses, beautiful women, live music, men in their expensive suits, and thousands of dollars circulating around the tables. This place was full of hypocrites. No one really gave a damn about the cause—except, of course, my grandmother Helena.Before going to the event, my lawyer had made som
What did Gregory mean by that? I spent most of the trip thinking about it until I finally fell asleep. There was no answer to his audacity; Gregory was truly determined to make my days more difficult.At least, I wanted to believe that. I wanted to create a bad image of him inside me so that it would be easier to forget him.I felt a hand caressing me. Not only that, but I thought I was dreaming, but when I slowly opened my eyes, I saw Gregory, standing with his face just inches from mine, smiling. The way he seemed happy by my side sent a shiver down my spine.I pulled away immediately when I realized the plane had already landed. How many hours had I been asleep? I would rather not ask Gregory that the less we talked, the better it would be for me.“We need to go,” he said, standing up and extending his hand for me to lean on him.I refused his help, getting up on my own and walking past him without giving him any attention. Gregory s
Emma.Bringing Masson back into my life felt like an unforgivable mistake. I cried in secret in the bathroom because I was tired of fighting this feeling inside my heart. I kept wondering why Gregory did this to me—one moment, he seemed to love me, and the next, he seemed to want to slowly kill me with his betrayals.Not only that, but I wiped my face, and when I left the room, I saw Samantha closing my suitcase and gripping its handle, ready to leave.“How long have you been there?” She looked at my face and knew at that moment that I had been crying, but she said nothing.“I just came to get your suitcase for the trip,” she smiled. “Mr. Gregory is waiting for you in the living room so you can leave.”I had even forgotten that I would be traveling with Gregory, and now it seemed too late to back out of this trip. I thought about how torturous it would be to spend a few days by his side without remembering his mistakes. The feeling I had was that death would come before Gregory and I
Gregory.A trip for me and Emma.I didn’t understand why I was excited, but I started packing my clothes to leave. I could hear Emma’s voice coming from the living room—she sounded happy, and her laughter filled my ears.When my phone rang, I didn’t feel like answering. I just wanted to keep listening to her voice, but the name on the screen made me stop everything and pick up the call.“What do you want?”“I’m at your doorstep waiting for you,” Mason’s voice was threatening. “And if you don’t come out, I’ll break into your house. I’m sure that Emma won’t like to see me.”I dropped the phone on the bed and rushed down the stairs, slipping out the door. It had been days since I last saw Mason—I had even thought he had forgotten his threats—but there he was again, making my life a little more difficult. There was no security around; I had dismissed all the staff, so I had to deal with Mason alone this time.My urgency in leaving the house caught Emma’s attention—not just hers, but also
EmmaGregory lifted me and held me in his arms. I sighed, startled. He carried me up the stairs until he stopped in front of our room, opened the door, and gently placed me on the bed. Thereafter, he looked at me as if calculating his words and finally said,“I’m going to call Samantha to help you take a bath,” he said, agitated, turning his back to me.“Gregory…”“Don’t say that near me again,” his eyes widened as he turned to look at me. There were tears in them. “I would rather not hear you say you’re dying when I’m here doing everything possible to save you.”I realized how much my words had hurt him. Immediately, Gregory turned his back and left. I remembered Helena’s words, saying that Gregory was committed to finding a cure for me. And he really was, even though I didn’t believe it was possible.Maybe by accepting reality, the pain would become smaller.Samantha entered the room a few minutes later. She had a strange expression on her face, as if she had seen something but coul
GregoryHelena had gone to visit Emma. She asked me to stay outside and wait because she had something important to tell me. I did as she asked, even though I felt like an idiot for not going into that room and making sure Emma was okay.Lia said she was fine, but she seemed moody. It was certainly because of me. I had spent the last few hours dedicated to researching the best hospitals and specialists who could save Emma’s life, using that as a perfect excuse not to have to see her.“Cancer treatment is the same all over the world, Mr. Gregory,” the doctor from Spain told me via video call. “There is not much to be done in these cases other than surgery and treatment.”There was no one who could guarantee Emma’s survival, and that was killing me. I wouldn’t give up so easily. I didn’t want to lose Emma now that I had realized how much I wanted her by my side.Not only that, but I glued my eyes to the laptop screen, and I sat on that hard bench for hours, so I didn’t see my grandmothe