Chapter 03

3 YEARS LATER…

"Today's a big day, Melissa. I'll always root for you." Kristen said.

Melissa let out a smile, putting a finishing touch to her light makeup. She stared down at her daughter who was still sleeping on her little bed"

"I'll take care of Mia, and we'll come watch you win."

Melissa giggled. "Stop being so optimistic. How am I gonna feel if I don't win after all."

"I and Mia will cheer you up." Kristen replied.

Melissa walked towards her daughter's bed, lowered her head and pecked her daughter lightly. "Mommy loves you so very much, Mia" She murmured in order not to wake her sleeping child.

The one thing Melissa noticed while her child was growing up was the fact that Mia was so very much attached to Kristen and they could never be apart from each other. She was glad about this because he was a good man. He was there for her all through the years, and during the time of her complications while she was giving birth to Mia

Melissa had almost lost her life due to countless complications during and after the pregnancy, but then Kristen never once got tired or gave up on her. He was there through thick and thin and she could never thank him enough.

Melissa was now the owner of a not too popular restaurant, and she also owned a bakery. Cooking was the one thing Melissa always dreamt of doing, and when the opportunity presented itself she grabbed it and worked really hard. She only has one more achievement, and that was to win an award that was going to bring her bakery and restaurant to a greater height.

As Melissa stepped out, she immediately realised that she had forgotten something. It was her ring. She rushed back into the house only to meet Kristen with the baby. He was holding the little girl so close to his chest that it made her nearly cry.

No one in the world would ever be able to love her baby like Kristen does.

Not wanting to destroy this beautiful moment, she tiptoed back out of the house and got into the car.

Melissa smiled. She just had to be bold and do everything she could to win the award. She had been preparing so hard for this day.

She sucked in a deep breath and ignited her engine immediately.

****

"Miss Kim, you'll be up next in 5 minutes." Melissa heard her name. Fear gripped her so much. No one was allowed to see her face, especially the judges. They were going to be hidden until the contest was over.

Her hands trembled when she heard her name and her heart thumped hard. She really needed the fame that would come with winning the competition.

Just before Melissa would be done preparing, her phone rang. It was a video call from Kristen.

She pressed the green button wondering why he was calling.

"Hey Melissa! We're here." Kristen said with a smile on his face.

"Say hi to momma."

"Momma." Mia said when she saw Melissa on the phone. The joy in her heart knew no bounds hearing her daughter call her name. Blakeley was simply her strength.

"Miss Kim, you're up now."

"Goodbye Kristen, I gotta go now." Melissa said and ended the call immediately. She dipped her phone into her pocket and sucked another deep and confident breath in.

She began walking to the stage where she was given a seat. She was sitting behind the curtains because she was not meant to be shown to anyone.

"Contestant number 10, tell us what you have here."

"Right on the left I have chocolate millefeuille, and at the middle there's crispy fried oysters with cornmeal butter, and on the right there's canlis salad." Melissa said with an audible and confident voice.

"Judges." The lady who had called her out earlier spoke.

Once Melissa could hear their footsteps heading towards her meal, her heart began thumping again but she found confidence in herself.

About 10 minutes later, she heard the lady's voice again.

"That's gonna be all. You may leave now."

Melissa rose up on her feet to leave, but then she heard a familiar voice.

"Stop." 

She found herself immediately stopping when she heard the voice. It sounded so familiar and even in her dream she was never going to forget that voice.

Silently, Melissa prayed it wouldn't be who she was expecting it to be. It had been so long, yet his voice was still the same.

"Your name please." He asked.

Melissa wasn't sure if she could lie about her name because she had already written her real name while she was contesting earlier.

She was scared to say it, and for a minute, she remained silent until she heard the lady's voice.

"Contestant number 10."

Melissa fluttered her brows twice, returning back to reality. Her eyes were already watery and she didn't know why.

"Melissa Kim." She replied and immediately started walking away. 

Immediately Melissa got back to the room where the remaining contestants were waiting, she nearly fell on the floor. She couldn't believe what was happening. Alex was here and he found out about her after tasting her food.

She began packing her things into the small bag she had brought earlier. She had to leave even if it meant forfeiting the award. She couldn't let Alex find her or her baby. She had promised never to forgive him, and she was hell bent on never forgiving him because he had no idea what she went through.

In a hurry, she rushed out of the room. She was certain Alex would try and find her and make her life miserable again.

Kristen noticing something was wrong hurriedly began looking for Melissa.

After searching for a few minutes, he found her heading towards the car.

"Melissa, what's wrong?"

"Mia, give me my baby." Melissa said and immediately took her child. She wrapped her arms around Mia, while Kristen couldn't help but wonder what was going on.

"What happened?"

Melissa didn't utter a word, but got into the car.

"We need to leave, right now." She said in a tone that got him even worried. It felt as if Melissa was trying to run away from something or someone. Not wanting to ask further questions, Kristen got into the car and ignited the engine.

The moment he drove away, Melissa buried her face on her palm and began sobbing while holding her child tight. The thought of Alex almost finding out about everything scared the hell out of her, and that pain she had tried to keep hidden resurfaced to the top. What he had done to

her_the humiliation, the rejection, everything suddenly came back again and this time without a warning.