After listing the house with a real estate agent, I temporarily settled into a budget hotel.

Jayden Lewis hadn't reached out to me again. Instead, he flaunted his relationship with Selah Martin all over social media. Calls kept pouring in:

"Lilah, are you and Jayden on the rocks?"

"Is Selah, the goddess herself, planning a wedding with Jayden?"

"I heard they were ring shopping yesterday..."

I didn't respond to any of it. I just looked at my reflection in the mirror, noticing the slight swell of my belly. Then, I called the agent again, lowering the price by another fifty thousand dollars. I wanted to leave Washington, D.C., behind as soon as possible.

The child inside me was an unexpected twist of fate. By the time I realized it, I was already three months along. The doctor said the fetus was well-developed, with tiny hands and feet. As I lay there, tears suddenly welled up and spilled over. But after much thought, I decided to terminate the pregnancy.

Yet, perhaps it was destiny. Just as I was about to go through with the procedure, chaos erupted nearby, and the sound of distant explosions reached us. The hospital plunged into darkness as the power failed.

And so, this child stayed.

I comforted myself with the thought that at least his father was a strikingly handsome man of Eastern European descent.

Jayden had abandoned me in that chaotic foreign place. The risks of being a young, attractive single woman there were obvious. Whether I ended up in dire circumstances or chose a path that offered some semblance of safety, when I cried out for help, I had already accepted the path before me. When he reached out to me in aid, my destiny took a new course.

The father of my baby was that handsome, disturbingly wealthy Eastern European man with a shred of decency left. Far better than Jayden, at least.

In its own way, wasn't this a small mercy from fate?

The day I sold the house, I received a call from Selah Martin.

"Lilah, I've decided to say yes to Jayden's proposal."

"Congratulations to both of you."

"I hope you can come to the engagement party, can you make it?"

"I'm sorry."

"You're not over it yet, Lilah?" Selah's voice was gentle, almost pitying. "Some things just aren't meant to be."

"But you know, you're wiser now than you were before. You know when to push forward and when to hold back."

"Still, Lilah, it's pointless. Jayden only listens to me; he's always had eyes only for me."

"See, with just one word from me, he left you behind."

"Selah, what's your point?"

There was a brief pause on the line.

"Lilah Rivera, I've decided to come back, so I wanted to make it clear to you—stop holding onto Jayden."

"Have I been holding on?"

"Don't think I don't know what you're up to."

"You love him so much, there's no way you'd let go, especially now that your family's bankrupt!"

"If he truly has eyes only for you, only listens to you, then what are you afraid of?"

Selah stayed silent for a long moment, so I hung up.

A few seconds later, I got a voice message. Jayden's voice came through, laid-back and dismissive: "Finally got rid of that clingy nuisance."

"I've never felt so free in my life."

"Congrats, Mr. Lewis, on getting your freedom back, haha."

I chuckled, turned off my phone, and moved on.

The day I left New York was cloaked in thick grey clouds and the oppressive weight of smog. Exiting the cab, I pulled my suitcase behind me as I headed into the bustling airport terminal. Suddenly, the distant roar of an engine snapped me out of my thoughts, making me turn instinctively. It was a vehicle I knew all too well, racing toward me.

I tightened my grip on the suitcase handle and pivoted, walking purposefully.

"Lilah!"

Jayden Lewis jumped out of the car, quickly covering the distance between us.

"Lilah," he repeated, his hand grabbing my arm, the tremor in his voice unmistakable, "Where are you going?"

I met his gaze with calm detachment. "Jayden, let go."

His eyes were bloodshot, and his whole demeanor was filled with urgency.

"Lilah, stay. Can't we turn back the clock?"

I let go of the suitcase handle, stepping back slightly as I slowly unbuttoned my coat. The biting New York winter wind sliced through me, chilling me to the bone.

Though my frame remained slender, there was now a slight curve to my belly. Jayden’s eyes moved downwards, inch by inch, finally stopping in stunned disbelief.

I simply smiled at him, my eyes narrowing with a hint of amusement. "Jayden, look—how can we ever go back to the way things were?"