Myra placed her head down on Hart’s shoulder as the plane took off.
Goodbye, Bali, she told herself reluctantly. Knowing Jake was in City V along with that girl he was hugging in the party, she didn’t feel keen to go home. While she missed her overbearing daddy, she wasn’t sure how to face him after she had just left without a word, without his golden permission. But no news was good news. Surely he would have taken Sierra’s words.
From now on, it would be her and Hart. She hadn’t expected so much from him when she had taken his car in the first place, and now he was going to her country with her, to be her dutiful boyfriend. It sounded so fairytale-like.
In the aisle behind her, Sierra behaved intimately with the man she had met in Bali. Teos, the person who had stepped up
The following weeks had flown by like a breeze. The holidays ended, and it was back to university. As usual, Myra and Sierra would dine together between lectures, ignoring the handsome men that passed them.“Jake Yu is here, and he’s in a discussion with the Dean,” some girls chattered amongst themselves as they strolled by carrying trays of their food orders. The cafeteria, while having the most affordable meals the average university student could afford, was known for its variety. Of course, as wealthy as they were, the sisters didn’t need to subject themselves to inferior quality dishes.“How are you and your guy?” Sierra asked, seeing how distracted Myra was.“I guess, good.”Sierra noticed how Myra wasn’t paying attention to what she was asking, waving two fingers in front of her eyes repeatedly.“Jake Yu inherited his father’s conglomerate. Shall w
Jake stopped the moving car just outside a convenience store before returning with a plastic bag filled with cans of beer. It was a sea of silence between them as he sped in his brand-new luxury car towards a destination where only the two of them knew to have existed.The old house in Myra’s memories stayed preserved beautifully, cleaned and devoid of cobwebs or dust. Myra allowed Hart to unbuckle her seat belt and lead her into the place.The pain of her father’s alleged demise hurt her even more than Jake and the other girl. Mustering her courage, she decided to put the past behind her for once and moved around the house, running her fingers over the old furniture.She needed a break from everything.Once, she had been a silly little girl, and she and Jake
When Myra woke up the next morning with a splitting headache, the first thing she recognised was the familiar light wall of her bedroom. The pain in her head obliterated her from attempting to recall where she was the night before. She felt soreness in her lower abdomen and back, which she fathomed was the aftermath of being active. But the question was, what happened last night? She woke up with no remembrance of what happened or why she had drunk so much. She looked around her room for any signs of Hart having spent the night with her, but there were none. But if it wasn’t Hart, who else could it be, she gasped, rubbing her face. No, she, Myra Yang, wasn’t that shallow of a person! Other than Hart, she couldn’t imagine having someone else in her bed. Then she heard a knock on the door. Sierra invited herself, still sleepy early in the morning, into the room
“Myra, I have no other meaning but to congratulate you,” Jake extended his palm to her slowly.She trembled and looked at Sierra, then back at Jake, reluctantly taking his hand. Two months was just too long to be unreasonably angry with Jake. She knew deeply that one couldn't force relationships. He had Yuna, and she had Hart. Faking a smile, she shook his hand.“Thank you.”If she was genuinely happy with Hart, then why was her heart beating so hard whenever Jake was near or looked at her? Jake, as cool as he was, seemed to have seen through her falseness. Even His presence didn't bother Sierra, who was busy checking the text on her phone. So deeply in love that she didn’t give a damn about her surroundings.She stared at his finger. Even n
The Best Damn Thing Cafe, DowntownA slim server in an adorable uniform leant over to take their orders. Nervously, Myra chewed on her lower lip.“I’ll have the seared foie gras with caramelised figs.”She averted Hart’s gaze, fixing her eyes on the menu. Knowing Hart, he would go for something more affordable, but even a pizza or a sundae in this posh cafe would cost hundreds to thousands of dollars. When she and her friends were having hotel-standard dishes at Bali, the cheap prices delighted them extremely.Jake ordered pasta with salmon caviar, grinning at Hart who merely mumbled, “baked fish rice”. He was indeed a fish out of water. Myra pretended to indulge herself in her newly downloaded bakery game app. She didn’
“Where are we going exactly, Jake?”Myra’s eyes filled with enthusiasm as she repeatedly told herself in her mind; You can do this, Myra. You need to.She knew now Jake was driving them somewhere linked to her father’s disappearance. She hadn’t the heart to ask, after how she had almost let him have her in the cafe toilet earlier.All this while, she was supposed to be Hatta Baderan’s girl. Now, just sitting in his luxury car made her uneasy, especially with the effect he had on her. She knew she might cave in to her desires soon.What was she even thinking? Her wet undies had dried off by now, but she was still feeling guilty. She didn’t want to think of all the possibilities that would have happened inside a public toilet
The sisters sat talking at the dining table when Hart made his appearance. Myra fell silent the moment Hart stepped into the apartment. She just remembered what Jake told her. There was one way he could offer her help, but it might be uncomfortable. For the sake of her father’s businesses, she knew she had to decide soon.Her mind returned to that lone moment with Jake at her father’s empty office three hours ago.“I don’t know, Jake. I don’t know if I can do this,” she said.“It’ll just be an act. Maybe one or two years, then after that, we can be on our own ways.”“I’m not sure, Jake,” she tried to evade him, but Jake inched closer and grabbed her wrist.
Hart relived the moment where he was inside that very forest, where he found Milla. It was dark and eerie, but he continued running forward. He ran and ran, but when he reached the spot where he had found Milla, she was not there.There was no corpse. No Milla. No, nothing.He was all alone. Just silence accompanied him.Then he turned around.Milla’s eyes were bloodshot as she stared at him. He contained himself, but before he could say anything, he heard her voice. She sounded tragic.“Hatta, have you moved on well now that I’m gone?”No, this was not true, his inner voice screamed. He tried to open his mouth, but he could not find his voice.
Myra saw Jake hesitate.It was now or never. She had to have answers to her doubts about the marriage with Jake. If she and Jake didn’t have that chemistry together, that proved one thing: she wasn’t truly in love with Jake.Even when she owned those memories of cheating on Hart with Jake, and she knew she loved him at one point.But those three years that she had lost; had she loved him?She only wished that she had written down the memories somewhere, like a diary of some sorts, to ascertain her feelings for him during those three years.She saw Jake come near. That’s right, she said in her mind. Come closer. I just want to feel if we have that chemistry between us.
“Hart, is that really you?”Her eyes widened with terror as she came close to the stranger whom she believed to be who she was waiting for so long. Please, she begged, let this be true. Let this stranger be Hart. She didn’t know what to expect, after having lost three years of memories.She just needed answers. And Hart was the one who held the key to her finding out what she needed to know.The stranger continued flicking on the lighter but to no avail as the cigarette wasn’t lighting up. She stopped just in front of him, trying to find out for herself if he was indeed the man she was waiting for.Jake mentioned Hart had left her for three long years. In her memories, she and Hart had been intimate. He couldn’t have lied to her. Why would h
Love?Myra remembered how she had rejected Jake the night at the old house, but she couldn’t absorb how he readily told her that he loved her. It was like she was dreaming. How was it possible he was in love with her?Especially with the missing three years from her memory, it made her question what was the truth. Putting one and one together, yes, they were married, but there were just too many puzzle pieces that confused her.Jake stopped the car just outside a serene-looking park. She didn’t recollect anything in her mind about this place, though the ambience stole her attention. J&M Park. Jake and Myra. A cheesy enough name indeed. So, Jake owned this place, she thought.She walked with him to the swings. It had been a long time since she rememb
Myra sat silently watching her father in his paralysed state while a middle-aged maid patiently fed him his lunch. Hours had passed since Jake had spoken to her, but she was still unable to accept the fact that it was three years past.Her father had aged quickly, but at least, his face looked a lot more peaceful than before. She wondered what had happened during this time. Had he suffered? Was she a dutiful daughter?The more she tried to rack her brains, the more her mind appeared a total blank.“Myra?” Jake’s deep voice surprised her, waking her from her thoughts. The maid greeted him before resuming feeding the aged man.“Uh…”“Let’s go for a walk,” he ges
To wake up again in a white-walled ‘prison’ was the worst thing to ever happen to Myra, for the second time. Rubbing her eyes, she surveyed the surroundings.There were white walls, but a second glance told her she wasn’t in the hospital. She searched her mind for what she remembered last. But all she recalled was falling down the stairs in her father’s mansion before she collapsed. She and Sierra had gone home for a bit to spend the night there, and in the morning, the accident happened.She touched her flat tummy and contemplated if her pregnancy was affected. If the fall had been so nasty, the life of her unborn child, despite still being a fetus, would be at stake. She crossed her fingers and prayed silently.A tap on the door ensued. She quickly answered for the person to come in.
Two weeks laterMyra sauntered past the corridors of her university, walking past the noisy crowds. As usual, Lionel didn’t bother to look at her and neither did his goons. It was like she had offended them, but there was just too much on her mind for her to bother about them.Time had passed so quickly since the fight between Hart and Jake, but fortunately, Hart’s job was not at stake. Instead, he told her that Jake had delegated Mrs Hoo to take over the collaboration, as if nothing had happened. Neither had he taken any action against Hart for his physical injuries.From that day onwards, Jake never appeared in the university ever again. While it was a relief for Myra, a question remained unanswered. Why was she feeling empty that Jake was no longer in contact with her? Even when Hart made love to her every night, an unsettled feeling lingered deep inside her.[No, stop it. Hart is who you need to be with.]She told herself calm
“Hart!”Myra frantically attempted to separate the two, but they continued on fighting. Obviously, Hart had the lead, but Jake simply refused to admit defeat.“Stop it, both of you!” she shouted, but none of them listened. The two men had their fists on each other, unwilling to stop.She glanced around them as Yuna calmly combed her hair with her fingers, standing casually while observing her own mirror image with her selfie camera. Obviously, Yuna didn’t give a damn about Jake right now, in contrast to how rumours spoke of her to be very clingy to Jake. Probably fame could change a person, Myra reckoned.As they were in a secluded area on the thirteenth floor, the fight didn’t draw any commotion. For a CEO to be fighting with a man he worked with, furthermore over a woman, didn’t seem at all very gracious. Somehow, she needed to put an end to this, but what could she do? Shouting and attempting to pull them aside
“Myra?”A tinge of guilt occupied his heart as he recognised the perfect figure of his girlfriend as she sat gracefully at the sofa. She was wearing a peach dress and in her hands lay a magazine. It was probably the first time Hart had ever seen his girlfriend so engrossed in reading.She hadn’t heard him so he called her name a second time, louder this time. Myra almost jumped, amusing him.“Why didn’t you call me?” He gently placed a hand on her lap. Myra shivered at his touch.“You left your cell phone at home. I came to return it to you,” she spoke innocently.“Since you’re here, would you like to join me for an early lunch?”“Er, I… Am I bothering you?”“I’m not busy today. Come, let’s go,” He tugged on her hand, taking her out of the premises as he saw Mrs Hoo heading their way. Myra quickly replaced the magazine on the t
“Hart, can we talk?”They had just had a sumptuous dinner cooked by Sierra. Hart found that Myra’s mental condition was a lot better than the night before. He glanced at her soft eyes, pondering if everything could return to how it was before.If only he could hit the reboot button on the computer and they could return to those times in Bali, where it was just the two of them….No Jake. No Waley. Just the two of them, running….He had to do what he could to forget about Waley. No matter what happened between them, he had promised Myra first. His late mother had often taught him Chinese idioms, and one was, ‘a man’s word is equivalent to great treasure’. This was an idiom that existed for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, and his mother had hoped any promise from him would be absolute.What was between Waley and he had to be just an obsession. If she didn’t resemble Milla, then maybe he wou