In the weeks that followed Jeremiah didn't disappoint. He showed up at the bakery spontaneously and brought lunch or flowers or sometimes he just walked in, order a coffee then sit and watched Jennifer while she worked. It was unnerving the way all his attention was on her. Sometimes she wouldn't even know he was there unless Lily or Boris pointed him out to her. He didn't say a word just smiled and when she would approach him, he would shrug it off and say he liked to watch her. On occasions when he found Jake and Tony around, he would grab her and kiss her in front of everyone. Apparently he was just reminding everyone she was his in case they had happened to forget. Like anyone would actually forget the great Jeremiah Maxwell.

When she had found out who he really was, she had freaked out and wondered why a billionaire like him would even look at her. They had been sitting in his living room watching TV when one of the magazines under the table caught her eye. Of course the other times she was there she had been too busy locking lips with him to even look around. She thumbed through it and upon seeing his face plastered there, she stopped to read the passage beside his photo and her freak out had begun. He had asked her what she thought he did and when she didn't have an answer he'd tackled her to the ground mainly to hold her down and stop her freak out but also because he was afraid she would ran for the hills. Jennifer was simple like that. She hadn't thought what he did like most women. She just assumed he was rich or came from money. It was stupid and careless but she couldn't care less what he did.

Today they were just laying in bed doing nothing. It was a Friday and they had decided to just stay in instead of going out. Half of Jenna's things were next to his in the closet. Her toiletries next to his in the bathroom and she even had some of kitchen utensils in the cupboards. Not that she brought them over from her house. They bought some his and hers stuff. Cups, T-shirts, shoes, hell even their workout clothes matched. She was surprised to find out one of the rooms in the apartment was a gym fully equipped with everything from a treadmill to dumbbells. Jeremiah wasn't obsessed with fitness but that didn't mean he was a slacker. When he chose to work out he gave it his all so much so that Jenna would forget what she was doing and stare at him. When they couldn't stay in, they went for morning runs and often stopped for breakfast.

"My mom left when I was ten" Jenna started not knowing why she chose that particular day to tell him that. He knew she didn't have relatives and that her mom had left but she hadn't gone into details. He was a patient man and he let her tell him when she felt ready to. Sensing there was more Jeremiah didn't say anything he just kept staring at the ceiling willing her to continue. She had had one more nightmare since the first and he was curious to know the cause of them although he never pushed. "When she got pregnant my father told her to get an abortion and when she refused he left. Being pregnant with no one to help her at all she worked two jobs at a once, sometimes even three. It was hard and she was tired all the time, always leading her to lose them but she didn't give up. She met this guy Jack and they were together for a while after she had me but I guess he too thought it was too much so he left. I don't remember him much. My mom told me about him. After that she went from boyfriend to boyfriend but they never stayed long. When I was eight she met Drew and for once he stayed longer than the others. At first he was okay. He'd take us out on weekends and buy us nice stuff and we were a family but after a while he started drinking. It wasn't 'get drunk and pass out' kind of drinking, just the 'get drunk and sit around playing games with Jenna' kind. I liked him because he always insisted on betting and always lost so as an eight year old I considered myself rich" she laughed remembering that part of her life.

"We were okay for a while. Until mom started to complain how all Drew did was drink and spend time with me. I wouldn't say she was jealous just miffed about his spending money on alcohol and me. At least that's what I thought. Apparently he went to strip clubs and the sort and my mom called him out every time he came home late. His drinking got worse and the fights more frequent. I could hear them arguing all night and he knocked her around a few times. I guess she had enough one day and decided to up and leave forgetting me. I came home from school and she was gone just like that." she snapped her fingers. "Drew said my mother didn't want me and that's why she had left. I cried for days wondering why my parents didn't want me but when crying didn't get me the answers I was seeking, I put myself together and made myself useful. I was ten by then so I cleaned the house and did Drew's laundry. I managed to cook simple things and watched cooking shows in the hopes that if Drew thought I was useful he would let me stay. Clearly I was deluded. He came home with a new girlfriend and she asked him if I was his kid. When he said no their arguments started. Why would Drew keep someone else's kid? Did he want his ex-girlfriend back? Why did he spend money on me? There was so much yelling and Zara, that was her name took it out on me. She would wait till he was gone then she'd make me do everything and when it wasn't enough she would hit me and make me start all over again. I hated her but I had nowhere else to go so I just kept quiet. Six months down the line I left. I thought it couldn't be worse out there. I took all her money which wasn't much and I ran in the middle of the night. The money helped for a few weeks with food but I slept wherever I stopped. I thought about taking a bus and following my mum but I didn't even know where she had gone. I roamed the streets and ate out of trash cans. Sold the few clothes I had and before I knew it I was homeless and alone."

"Jennifer" he said but she didn't hear him. She was back on the streets again sleeping in alleys and running from drunk men. He wanted to tell he to stop. He didn't care where she had been or what she had done, all that mattered was that now she was with him. And he would take care of her.

"I came across these kids who took me with them because my clothes were cleaner than theirs. They weren't but it was their excuse and I was okay with that. I always stayed behind while they went and did whatever it was they were doing. All I knew is that they came back with food that wasn't from a trash bag or leftovers. They would share and I felt like I belonged so when they told me what they did and said I got to go with them, I agreed without a second thought. It was stealing and they taught me how to bump into someone and get away from them with their wallets. After my first try I got bolder and bolder. One time I saw this guy dressed in a really fancy suit with a Fedora. He also had a cane although he didn't need it. He was a great catch and I figured he wouldn't care about a stupid wallet. I bumped into him and ran off with his wallet thinking he was too fancy to follow me around. Turns out he had a bodyguard that I hadn't seen and he was following me. I ran so fast but the guy was tall and his steps were twice maybe thrice larger than mine. I ran into a dark alley way and as it turns out that was his chance. I don't remember much except pain. I fell and for a second I felt numb and then all of a sudden excruciating pain. It was so much that everything around me became blurry. The guy walked to me, picked up the wallet then said 'Disprezzo i ladri'  that's Italian for I despise thieves then left me there. While lying there I kept repeating those words over and over in my head. I didn't know what they meant then but they were my way of distracting myself from the pain. I woke up in a hospital and they told me I had been out for two days and that I'd been shot. Someone had called an ambulance but didn't wait for it to get there because they had done their duty." she sighed and realized she was spooned against Jeremiah with his hands wrapped around her. She felt safe in his arms.

Turning to face him she smiled and just stared at him thinking this was it. This was her happy ending with a good man who wanted to marry her. Start a new life with her. "I didn't die. But I remember being out of it and in a field of flowers. That's all I could see. All types of flowers that went on forever, I couldn't see where they began or where the ended."

"Did they contact your mother?" he asked

"They couldn't find her and I told them if they did she wouldn't want me. I was appointed a social worker and within no time she had found me a foster family. They were amazing at first and I thought I was lucky that they were even willing to invite me into their home in the first place. I had my own room with new clothes and three square meals a day and I couldn't have been more ecstatic. They had a son. Collins. He was nice to me too. The longer I stayed the more comfortable I got. I was fourteen and I thought it was time I acted my age. I did my hair and wore pretty dresses that Molly my foster mom had bought for me. They enrolled me in school and I made friends. I was happy for a while. Until Collins changed. I would find him staring at me when I wasn't looking and he would make sure to at least touch me whenever I walked past him. He was subtle and his touch was innocent. My hair, hand, a caress on my face. He never did anything more than that. I never had a sibling before and I thought that was what it would feel like. Again I was deluded. One time his parents went on vacation and left me with him. He became bolder and grabbed my ass. I thought he was just messing around with me so I would tell him to cut it out. He laughed it off and then grabbed my breast. I was too shocked to say anything so I just walked away quietly. What I didn't know was that he followed me to my bedroom and the moment he closed the door he tried to kiss me. I pushed him away but he just gripped my elbows and pushed me down."

"Jennifer" Jeremiah said trying to stop her. He didn't want to hear anymore. She was crying and he was sure she was reliving that awful moment but he couldn't stop her because she wasn't there with him.

"He raped me and there was nothing I could do." she continued not hearing what he was saying. "I remember lying there and cursing my mother for bringing me into this cruel world and then leaving me to the wolves to fend for myself. At that moment I blamed her for everything. For being selfish and caring about herself only. For not caring enough for me. For having the heart to just walk away and not looking back. For letting me get shot and almost dying. For letting this monster take away my innocence in the most cruelest of ways. I cursed her to hell and back. I blamed everything on her. So much so that I had no hatred left for Collins even though he was the one violating me. To him I was just someone he could take advantage of. And the reason he had that power was because I had none. I was there because my mother wasn't there to protect me. He left and I don't know how long I was on the floor. I was frozen and didn't hear the neighbor calling out. She had received a call from my foster parents to check up on us and when I didn't say a thing she searched the house until she found me. I didn't see her. She thought I was dead at first because of how still I was so called an ambulance and when I got to the hospital I tried to kill myself. I was so bitter and frustrated that I wanted it all end. The doctors had to restrain me in order to protect me from myself." she looked at him and wiped the tears on his cheek away. Smiling to reassure him she was fine she continued.

"They sent me to an all girls group home. It was nice and all but I was too depressed to care. I was appointed a therapist who tried her best but got nowhere. Until one day the other girls who lived there approached me and told me their stories. They just wanted to let me know that I was not alone and without knowing they helped overcome my depression. They told me how they were tortured, beaten and drugged until they got used to it. In my mind what I had gone through was horrible but they had gone through it over and over and when they got out they laughed and lived. And here I was wanting to kill myself. Somehow they inspired me to live. They gave me strength and I wanted to be like them. To say that I'd gone through hell and back but I wasn't broken. Scarred but not broken. Miranda, she was the one managing that group home, helped me find a job and save enough to move out. She told me I could always go back if I felt it was too soon but I was determined to make it on my own. I was scared of men but she enrolled me in a self defense class. She said if I felt safe then there would be no reason for me to be scared. It took me years to feel safe. And more years to know that not every man was a monster. So here I am. In bed with a man am not scared of because he's beautiful and kind and really generous. I look forward to marrying you Jeremiah Maxwell and living a happy life for the rest of my life." and with she kissed him.

Jenna felt like she had unloaded the weight of the world from her shoulders. It was exhilarating how amazing it felt to tell someone her story and for that person not to recoil in disgust. She felt free and liberated. She had found a man and soon she will marry him and start her own family. She promised herself not to repeat her parents mistakes. She would love and protect her children with her life whether their father was present or not. She would not let anyone harm them.

"I love you" Jeremiah told her when they finally broke apart. He didn't know if he had ever met someone as strong as her. Someone who had gone through so much and still pulled through. Came out on the other side stronger than before. She lived her life carefree. With no bitterness. For someone to think suicide was a way out, let alone a child, it must have been too much. But still he had seen her sneak some cookies and cakes to some of those street kids who looked through the window dreamily. She always had a load of change to drop in cups or buy a soda for the homeless. She had such a big heart and for the life of him he couldn't understand why anyone would ever leave her. 

"I love you too." she said and he felt his heart fight to leap through his chest. She was his and he wouldn't let anyone hurt her ever again. He would dedicate his life to making her happy and replacing her nightmares with sweet dreams. They were just beginning their life together and he would worship the ground she walked on.

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