Present Day

I had the courtesy not to interrupt when I became aware that Julian, the director of human resources, was on the phone. He was seated behind his desk with his head back and laughing. I softly closed the door and moved cautiously towards him. I still had my documents and phone in hand.

After around three minutes, Julian finally hung up the phone. I had no idea who he was talking to, but it was clear it was a personal call by the way he laughed.

"See who's stopped by to call? You said you'd never come in here, did you?"

I gave him a furious glare.

"Sit down," he ushered me into a chair.

"Rickie told you that you wanted to meet with me, but why was I not notified of the time change of the meeting?"

"This new product was actually my brainchild. The board was impressed and approved it because they were smitten with the vision, and I've worked back-to-back on this product. Why the devil's fire wasn't I notified of the meeting?"

"Have a seat, Bonnie."

"Cut that crap, Julian. I would have sat if I wanted to."

"Still feisty and stubborn. I see."

"Just answer me! Why wasn't I notified?"

"I would have loved to take this the easy way, but since you want it the hard way, then no problem."

"What the hell do you mean?"

The board decided and I was told to provide you with this." He got up from behind his desk and moved towards the white envelope on it and handed it to me.

I stared at Julian, at the paper, and then back at Julian, wondering what the hell the paper had inside it or whether he was just playing tricks with my mind by refusing to respond to my queries.

My fingers are getting weary, woman!" I puffed. I placed the documents in my hand on the table, approached him, took up the envelope, and opened it immediately, drawing out the paper inside.

On the company's letterhead was a termination letter addressed to Miss Bonnie Shawn. I stood stock still, my gaze fixed on the letter. My heart pounded in my chest as I read the letter, attempting to decipher what in the world was going on.

Shaken from my reverie, I snapped my gaze back to Julian. "This prank costs way too much."

He laughed, "You think I'm pranking you?"

"This is probably just another one of your tricks to get me to go out with you, despite the fact that I already told you I'm not interested."

Julian laughed, "You're full of yourself. Aren't you?"

"Then this doesn't make sense to me!"

Not that I am going to brag or anything, but I'm literally one of the most hardworking employees in this company. I do my work well, I keep to myself, and I get along with everyone. Why the hell would I deserve a termination letter?"

Julian chuckled, "You sure you get along with everyone? The Boss asked me to write the termination letter."

"What? J'onn?"

He nodded.

No, that can't be!\" I shook my head, trying to chase away all that Julian was saying.

"Why? Because you're f*cking him?"

My heart stopped.

"Please don't give me that look. You think nobody's ever gonna find out?"

"You play the saint by not dating me, now look at you?"

By this time, my eyes were watery, but I tried my best to hold back my tears.

"You know nothing about me, and I will ask you to close your mouth first before serving up absurd accusations at my face."

Julian shrugged, "Whatever it takes to keep you sleeping well at night, dear. The Boss gave the command. You're really fired."

"How is that possible? The letter did not state the reason why I was fired."

"You sure? You did not see the reasons of misconduct there?"

"What misbehavior? I've literally given my whole life to this company. I work my a** off each time too?"

"F*cking the Boss?"

"You're just a piece of sh*t!"

"For someone just who got fired, you're got some balls!"

I gave him a furious glare, didn't even bother to pick up the document I left on his desk, and left.

If you had said Yes to me, I would have tried to negotiate with the boss to see… He hadn't even finished speaking before I slammed the door.

I extricated myself from outside Julian's office with tears in my eyes, opened my phone, and dialed J'onn. I laid the phone on my ear and waited expectantly for him to answer. My call went to voicemail, but that did not deter me from calling him again. This time he hung up the call from his end. I called him once more and got the same treatment.

Oh my God!" I sniffled, attempting to compose myself. I was so damn worried but did not want to appear so.

Assuming he was not answering my call, I decided to check for him in his office.

"Is Mr. Condex in the office?" I asked Rickie as soon as I got back to my floor.

"No ma'am. He wasn't at work today."

"Are you sure? What about his assistants?

"They are not here, either."

Now that I knew that was not like J'onn, I once again opened my phone and called him.

"There they are, ma'am." I looked at the entrance of the floor, and as a matter of fact, I could spot J'onn. He literally just came out of the elevator, and as always, his two assistants and bodyguards were following behind him. Beside him was a light-skinned woman. She was the kind of woman who was plucked out of a model magazine. Not only did she have flawless skin, but she was actually pretty, her hair was nicely done, and she wore one of those designer dresses that cost an arm and a leg.

My heart fell the moment I spotted her laughing with J'onn as they walked in like they owned the firm.

I was never one to like being in the limelight or even care about it, but I needed answers then. Without giving a f*ck, I did what my heart told me to do.

I approached them, making J'onn and the gorgeous woman stop in their tracks.

"How may I help you?" J'onn icily asked.

Tears suddenly filled my eyes. I did not know what hurt me more—the fact that he spoke to me so callously or the fact that J'onn addressed me so curtly in public, something he had not done before and never had he shouted at me.

I swallowed hard, trying to find some courage. "Julian presented me with a termination notice."

"So?" he glared at me, speaking without any compassion.

"Then?" My voice broke. I recognized he was coarse in disposition, but he had never ever been coarse with me.

"You're going to listen or do you need me to call the securities to take you out?"

Tears filled my eyes and dripped down my face. I was beyond caring now to swipe them away.

"Let's go, Babe." He put his arm around the beautiful lady's waist and walked out.

"O…….car!!!" I yelled by his first name, which I wished to go and catch up with him, but one of his assistants stopped me. "You should leave, ma'am."

"Why? I didn't do anything?"

"I'll have no choice but to call the security."

"If everyone's being unfair to me, not you too." I cried, paying no attention to the fact that people were gawking, some of the staff members on the floor who came out to see what was going on.

"I care about you, Miss Bonnie, and that's why I want you to leave."

"No…no…I need answers." I cried even harder.

"Mr. Condex instructed that you be let go."

"Why? I didn't do anything to harm him."

"I don't know. He's moved on, and you should too. That is his fiancée, and they are marrying this weekend."

"What????!" I glared at J'onn's assistant in shock.

"I hope you vanish for good!" He smiled to himself before heading toward J'onn's

I had trembling lips and tears flowing down my face as I rushed to my office, packed my things, including the sealed envelope that I wanted to give to him, hoping I was going to make the happiest man alive, but the opposite was true.

I took my handbag and exited my office, and also the office building.

Upon reaching my car, I threw my handbag to the rear seat, turned on the engine, placed one hand on my stomach, and cried.

"I made a promise to you today was going to be an extremely special day since I was going to introduce you to someone extremely special. I could not even fulfill my promise. I am really sorry." I broke down in uncontrollable sobs. I did not know what was more hurtful: the fact that I got fired without any reasonable explanation or the fact that J'onn just rejected me when he literally proposed to me a couple of days ago.

I had never been this lonely in my whole life. I cried and cried until I couldn't cry anymore.

After what seemed like an eternity, I turned on the car engine and drove out of the office complex. I had no clue what was going to happen, but I knew I needed my bed and, for certain, that I needed to cry some more.

I drove to my apartment and reached in about twenty minutes.

"What the heck?!"" I exclaimed with a stuffy nose as I unlocked the car and got out of it. I did not even close my car properly.

There were some furniture and a few household items outside my apartment building that I identified as mine, like my luggage and my clothes.

"What the hell is going on? These are mine. What are they doing here? Why are you f*cking touching my stuff?" I asked the first man I saw.

"Are you Miss Bonnie Shawn?"

"How the hell did you get into my apartment? What are my things doing here?"

"We are following Mr. Condex's instructions. He told us to empty the apartment."

I stared at the man in shock as yet another wave of tears welled up in my eyes. Among everything J'onn had put me through today, I had never imagined he could be cruel enough to make me and precious human being within my womb homeless.

"Please, you can't do this to me. It's my home, after all." I snuffled, my head already pulsating from the amount of tears that had flowed.

"I told you already, ma'am. We don't have anything to do with you. We are only just carrying out the Boss's instructions. And from what I know, someone else is moving in tonight."

"What? My home? Oh, please, I'm sure you all must be mistaking me for another. I'm not a terrible person to warrant J'onn to banish me. It's got to be some sort of misunderstanding."

"Look, J'onn and I aren't on talking terms right now, but that doesn't mean we won't get back. Now talk to the other men to collect all of my things. Honestly, I don't feel well, and I need my sanity at times like these so badly."

"If you have some complaint against this, I suggest you contact Mr. Condex. We'll stop only if he asks us to. Excuse me."

I watched, powerless; a tear dropped down my cheek as I saw him walk up to the other men, telling them to rush and empty the apartment. I used both my hands to cover my mouth as I tried to muffle my sobbing as I watched more of my belongings being carried out.

Having seen that there was nothing I could do for now, I ran to my car, went in, looked for my handbag at the back seat, fetched my telephone, and dialed J'onn.

Please pick up your phone, I wept as the telephone kept ringing. Eventually, it went on voicemail. I repeated on my dialing, but he never picked it.

I cleared the beads streaming down my cheeks with my palm's back. I then started the car and drove out of my estate. To be frank, I didn't have an idea where I was going. The opposite direction of the office came upon me, then reversed my mind because the securities at the entrance would never let me in regardless.

With swollen eyes, I turned and went towards J'onn's home, even though I knew that I was not going to find him there.

It took what felt like forever, but I finally reached J'onn's Estate and parked in front of his home.

I lowered my glass window and punched in what I knew was the code for the gate to open, but it wouldn't.

I remembered that I got an error when I entered the passcode the first time.

"Please No…. Don't tell me he changed this." I muttered as I entered the passcode once more.

New tears form in my eyes knowing what just occurred. I reached for my phone to call Connor, but this time his number wouldn't go through.

I dialed another number, hoping to get some response.

"Hi Zina," I sniffled as the person on the other end picked up the call,

"Zi….Zina, are you there?" I took my phone away from my ear and glanced at it. Hoping that Zina hadn't ended the call.

Seeing that the call was still going, I put the phone back in my ear,

"Hi dear, I can hear you."

"What's going on, Zina? J'onn blocked me!!! " I didn't know when I started crying again.

"He sacked me; he wouldn't even look at my eyes to hear me out or explain to me what I did. I got to my apartment and he ordered that all my stuff be thrown out. I tried coming in but changed the passcode. Why, Zina?

"I did nothing to him, yet he has done nothing but shame me. I must have answers, Zina. This hurt is too great for me to handle." I cried.

"He came to the office with a lady. His assistant said they are getting married this weekend. How is that even possible, Zina? He literally proposed to me just the other day. I didn't do anything wrong to him. I don't know why he's treating me this way." I blurted out all at once as my howling intensified and I entered another fit of sobs.

"Just relax, Bonnie."

"I'm trying to. I just need an explanation. I lost my job, my apartment, and my fiancé all in the same day. Today was supposed to be one of the happiest days, Zina. I needed to tell him something, yet he threw me out of the office. He wouldn't even look me in the face."

"I don't remember doing anything to harm him. I don't know what I did to deserve all this." I cried on the phone.

"Quiet now, my dear."

"I don't know what to do. My whole life is stolen from me in a day. Where do I even start from?"

"Don't cry, Bonnie. You're tougher than you think, I promise you."

Ca….can you please talk with J'onn for me? At least listen to me!"

There was a few seconds of silence between us.

"I'm sorry, Bonnie, but I don't think I'd be any assistance."

"Don't turn your back on me, Zina. You're literally my last hope."

I heard Zina sigh.

"You haven't done anything to irk me, my child, and I don't think you did anything to irk J'onn either. It's a pity that all of these had to take place."

"I need answers, Zina. Where did I go wrong? We used to be cool. Literally, we can't live without each other, and now he wants me out of his life?!"

"Calm down, my child, and hear all that I have to say."

I sniffled.

"You're a great woman and God knows I've been wishing so desperately that you and J'onn would be together. I love you for him and I'm so sorry it had to end like this."

"I'm as shocked as you are regarding everything."

I would have come to greet you or open for you, but I was instructed not to do so. J'onn changed the passcode, and it was obvious that he doesn't need to see you in his premises. I was also surprised by the news about him marrying Ingrid.

As I was aware that he was in love with you, he had never ever invited any other lady to his house. I thought at a certain point that maybe you broke him, but after talking to you, I think that all of this was J'onn's option.

"That suggests that he never loved me. He was just in my life to play games with my heart and to destroy me.".

"Honestly, Bonnie, I never once witnessed J'onn fall in love with anyone as much as he fell for you. He was really obsessed with you and his motives were not with an evil intent. I really wish I could give answers for this transition, but I cannot."

"He has seemingly moved on, and I want you to move on as well. It might not be simple, but I want you to realize that you're stronger than

When I believed my life could not get any worse, there was a knock on the window of my vehicle. I looked to my left and my phone almost slipped from my ear when I realized who it was. My heart began racing and I was forced to end the call when another set of knocks rang out on my glass door. These were rougher knocks.

I did not know if I should call this a dream come true or not. I had never seen Mrs. Condex in the flesh other than on TV and in newspapers. And now that she was standing right outside my car, I did not actually know how to react or if I was even able to discuss my problems with her.

With shaking hands, I set my phone aside, wiped tears from my face with the back of my hand, opened the door, and stepped down from the car.

I was just steady on my feet when a hand came crashing onto my face. Blazing tears forthwith streamed down my cheeks.

Before even I could question what I had done to warrant such a treatment or justify myself, Colna, J'onn's mother, was on me first.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

With lips shaking and hands on my cheek where Colna slapped me, I tried to utter what I'm feeling, but nothing came out from my lips.

"You b**tch, why can't you stay the hell away from my son?"

"You think we're gonna let a gold digger such as yourself come into his life and exploit him? What the hell are you doing in his house?"

I was going to speak or say something—most probably defend myself—when Colna cut me short by raising her hand.

"You, piece of s**t!!! You don't say anything when I'm talking."

I tried to swallow my tears.

"Wait, isn't this the company car?"

"Yona!!!"

She called one of her guards.

With the knowledge of what I was doing, I disobeyed the rule and went ahead to beg.

"Please don't take the car from me. This is literally the only haven that I have. Please, Ma."

Colna ignored.

"Get her things out and drive the car in."

"Please ma, don't do this to me." I pleaded, sobbing.

"Don't even get your dirty hands on me!" Colna sneered at me.

Yona obeyed his Boss's command. He went into what used to be my costly car, opened my handbag, and actually threw it outside the street, my phone hitting hard on the ground.

"Don't you ever come near me, my Son, or my family anymore, do you hear?!?" Colna pushed me aside. I lost balance steps and fell onto the ground on my stomach, experiencing a sudden piercing pain through my abdomen.

I cried out in anguish as I wrapped my hand around my stomach.