Jenna ran and ran not seeing where she was going. Her feet hurt and her lungs felt like they were on fire but she still ran. It escaped her mind that she was wearing heels and running in them as fast as she was, would have been impossible any day. But today wasn't any other day. Today her perfect life had come crumbling down. She couldn't see ahead. Only the past. Images of her lying in a pool of blood. Roaming the streets hungry with nothing to eat. Collins hurting her. Trying to kill herself in that hospital. They were all a loop in her head. Flicking from one image to the other and when they got to the last one, they started all over again. And then she was down on her ass.

"Ma'am are you okay?" a taxi driver had knocked her down but nothing hurt. Thank God he wasn't going that fast. "Get in I'll take you to the hospital" he helped her up and she got in the backseat. She gave him an address and he drove off after making sure she wasn't really hurt.

Jenna couldn't get her mind to stop. The loop was still going on her head. She couldn't even conjure the good memories she had with Jeremiah. She held onto her head with both hands trying to make it all go away. It wouldn't stop. She pulled her hair crying. When had the tears begun? She couldn't remember. They were coming out in floods and she curled herself in the seat heaving sobs. The driver was worried so he stepped on the gas hurrying to get her to where she wanted to go. Maybe she had lost a loved one and that was why she was crying so hard.

"We're here" he said looking back at her. She hadn't stopped crying and from the looks of it she didn't hear him. He got out and opened her door touching her arm "Miss we're here" she jerked then looked up seeing him for the first time. She looked around and realized she was in a taxi then looking outside the windows she saw the familiar house where she had found refuge.

"I don't have have any money" Jenna said taking off her diamond bracelet and giving it to him. Jeremiah had bought it for her when they went to Thailand but she was sure he wouldn't mind. "Here. I hope that's enough" the driver looked at her back and back down to the bracelet. He could buy his own car if he sold it. The man got in and drove away hoping the lovely lady would be fine.

"Jenna. What a surprise!" Miranda said but stopped realizing she was crying. "Come in sweetie. Your old room is still intact and Agnes the girl who was staying there moved out yesterday." she led Jenna to her room and helped her change into a night dress she fetched from her room. "Call out if you need anything. Okay?"

Jenna nodded curling up in bed. She hadn't meant to come here. She didn't even remember giving that cab driver this address but clearly this was where she needed to be. In her mind, this was the one place that had felt like home. She had healed while making friends and getting her life together. The group home had been her safe haven when she was going through hell. Her consciousness must have brought her there because she felt safe. Miranda didn't ask questions. She always gave them time to settle in and clear their minds before she even attempted any kind of conversation.

She lay in bed looking up at the ceiling. Her loop had stopped and now she was numb. Never in her life had she thought she would come face to face with the woman who had abandoned her. And in Jeremiah's house? How had that even happened? Why would life make them cross paths again. Questions and more questions. If she had met them before would she have still married her husband? Why hadn't she insisted on meeting them in the first place. Wasn't that what normal people did? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. She hit her head on the pillow over and over again. Where would she go from there?

-----------------------

Jeremiah didn't know what to do. His wife ran out and Terry fainted. He couldn't decide what to do. Follow Jenna or stay and see if his adoptive mother was fine. So he stayed until his father told him that Terry was okay. Her blood pressure had spiked and that's why she had fainted. "Go on son. Go after your wife I've got mine" Daniel said pushing him towards the front door where Jenna had disappeared to. He stood on the street looking left and right wondering which way to go.

"You go left and we'll go right. Meet us back here in say ten twenty minutes. Okay?" Zoe asked him clinging to Chloe.

"Thanks. Call me when you find her" he said then took off running. He had so many questions he wanted to ask her but that was only going to happen if he found her. He stepped on something that sounded like glass but he only saw the gleaming purse lying in front of him in the middle of the road.

He stopped picking it up. It was Jennifer's and looking around he saw her phone. The screen was shattered indicating that it was the object he had stepped on. He picked it up too turning in circles trying to find her. All he could see was a deserted road with houses on every side evenly spaced out. Where could she have gone? Why was her phone and purse lying on the road? Why did she even run in the first place? Jennifer where are you. He asked himself. His phone vibrated in his pocket. It was Zoe calling

"Hey no sign of her on our end" she said.

"I found her phone and purse but she's no where to be seen. I'll meet you guys at the house" he replied walking back. He couldn't think of a reason as to why she would just run away like that. And now without her phone how was he going to know if she was okay? Maybe she went back to the apartment. That thought got him running towards his car. "Am going back to my apartment. Maybe she went there" he told the twins who were sitting huddled together on the front steps.

"Just tell us when you find her so we know she's fine" Chloe said surprising him. She didn't get along with a lot of people much less care. Jeremiah drove to the apartment like a mad person.

"Jennifer, Jennifer are you here baby?" he called out to the apartment but there was no reply. He dropped on the sofa and looked up at the ceiling praying that she was fine.

Jeremiah waited till morning glancing at the lift willing it to open. His eyes hurt from looking at one place for so long. He sat there all day watching and waiting and by evening when there was no sign of her he called the police. And then the search begun. He went to Lily and Boris' house even Eva the new girl but she wasn't there. He tracked down Jack and Tony. No luck there. He remembered she had told him about staying at a foster home. He pulled strings and got the chief of police to tell him the location of the house and drove over there breaking all speed limits.

"Is she here?" he asked the woman who opened the door. She was in her early fifties, plump with impressive black hair for her age.

"Who are you looking for son?" her voice was calm and even though he suspected she knew he was looking for Jenna she showed no signs of knowing him.

"Jennifer Marbles. Maxwell now. Am her husband and I've been looking for her for two days. Please tell me she's here" Jeremiah begged.

Miranda sighed. "She was here on Sunday evening but by the time I got up on Monday morning she was gone. She told one of the girls that if someone came looking for her to tell them not to worry." Jeremiah slumped on the doorway sliding down to the floor.

"Why won't she come home? I suppose she forgot to tell you why she came here in the first place" he asked even though he knew the answer.

"Am sorry young man. But a piece of advice, when Jenna gets this way, I suggest you give her the space she wants. If you push her she has the tendency to push back harder. Let her come to you." Miranda told him patting his shoulder.

Jeremiah went back home wondering the house like a lost puppy in a new place. Days passed and he got more and more worried. A week passed without a word or even a call from her. He was scared to broaden his search to hospitals and morgues. He had to stay positive otherwise he was going to lose his mind. Delilah had called countless times to tell him she couldn't postpone his meetings any longer so he went in on Friday if only to distract himself.

Nothing worked. He spent all day snapping at his employees until his secretary sent him home. But how could he go to an empty house? He hadn't been sleeping all week. He couldn't eat or even get his mind to focus on anything that wasn't Jennifer related. He drove around the city without a sense of direction until the sun set and the sky darkened. Then he went home but he couldn't move from his car. The parking lot was dark and deserted fitting his mood. Jeremiah couldn't say how long he had sat there in the dark but some few hours later he went up to his empty apartment. Only it wasn't empty. Someone was in the kitchen.

Jeremiah stopped dead in his tracks. "Jennifer!" he asked jumping on her. Her back was to him and she made no move to turn around or even hug him back. "Baby where have you been? Are you okay?"

"Am fine. Are you hungry" she pushed his hands away and opened the fridge taking out a jar of mayonnaise. "Am almost done cooking. Go change and we'll eat" all that time she hadn't looked at him even once. He remembered what Miranda told him.

Let her come to you.

If you push she will push back harder.

"Okay. I'll be right back." he stopped at the door "Jennifer?" she didn't look up. But he continued. So long as she heard him, he didn't care. "Please be here when I get back" he left without waiting for her to reply.

Jenna dropped the spoon she was holding and broke down. She had taken her time. Stayed up all night and thought about everything. At dawn she realized Jeremiah was going to start looking for her so she left and went to her friend Agnes. They had stayed together at the group and she was sure Jeremiah wouldn't find her there since he didn't even know of her existence. She had cried for two days. And when there were no more tears she analyzed everything from every angle. When a parent abandons you a big part of yourself hopes that maybe they were sick or they died or something horrible happened to them that's why they couldn't get back to you. Or at least those were the excuses Jenna gave herself.

Seeing her standing there happy, healthy shook Jenna to her core. She was sick now but she hadn't been before. When she was roaming the streets and eating from garbage cans. She was healthy living with Jeremiah and raising the twins. Living happily with her new family. How could she forget about her like that? Why couldn't she come back for her? She would have loved to grow up in that house with her sisters. She would have loved to have a family that cared for her too. Why did her mother think she would be okay on her own without no one to look after her? What did Jeremiah and his sisters have that she didn't? Jenna wiped her tears when she heard footsteps. Maybe she wasn't ready to come back.

"Jennifer are you okay?" Jeremiah was worried. He knew she had been crying even now as she tried to hide it she was still crying. "Baby talk to me what's wrong?" he pleaded but she just cried harder. He caught her when she slid down to the floor and sat there with her murmuring comforting words. He was lost. He didn't know how to help her if he didn't even know what the problem was. Her body was shaking and it felt like whatever she was sobbing about hurt her badly. It felt like an old wound that opened up and with it came the wracking sobs.

It must have been an hour maybe two when Jeremiah finally lifted her from the floor and carried her to bed. She had quieted down but she still hadn't uttered one word. He lay next her with his hand around her waist and pulled her into his body. It killed him to see her that way and as much as he wanted to ask what was wrong, he didn't in fear of triggering whatever had made her cry again. He looked at her, noticing for the first time that she had lost weight. Jeremiah had so many questions and the only person who could answer them wasn't in the position to do so. Jenna fell asleep and tucking her in, he went back downstairs. He called the police and told them to stop looking for her then called his dad.

"Am glad you called. I have to tell you something and am not sure how you are going to take it" Daniel said over the phone.

"Dad am not sure I want to hear whatever you want to say. Jennifer isn't okay and I have to find out what's wrong before I can figure out how to fix it"

"It is about your wife."

Jeremiah gripped his phone harder "If you know what's going on then spit it out dad. Stop beating around the bush"

"She's Terry's daughter" Daniel said in one breath. He had been shocked when Terry had confessed but she hadn't explained further so even he didn't know the whole story.

"No.. No. That's not possible" to say that he was shocked would be an understatement.

"She told me herself. Listen...... " Jeremiah hung up. He couldn't hear anything more. Everything made sense. Her disappearance, Terry's spiked blood pressure, Jenna breaking down in the kitchen just a few hours ago. It all made sense.

I blame her for everything.

He started pacing. How did he not know that Terry had another daughter?

She was selfish and uncaring.

That didn't sound like the woman he knew. The woman who raised him.

Even when he was violating me I didn't blame him. I blamed her for not being there. For not protecting me.

This was so messed up. Half of him could see their life, how complicated it was going to be. They couldn't have Sunday dinners. Their children would be lucky if they even caught a glimpse of their grandmother. Awkward holidays or family gatherings. How was he going to fix something like that? Where would he even begin? Jenna hated her mother with a vengeance. He could understand where she came from and that's part of the reason he hadn't asked her to even try and find her. He knew she would give him an earful if he so much as mentioned the woman. But for that woman to be Terry?

He didn't see a way out. He couldn't even pick sides. A wife and a woman he considered a second mother, how do you choose? He was always on Jenna's side as long as that woman was faceless. If he didn't know her then he was always going to pick Jenna's side. Now he was between two important women in his life. What was he going to do? Add the fact that Terry was sick and she might need a transplant. Jeremiah pulled on his hair. Why was life always taking the most important people from him? He knew if he took Jenna's side then Terry would be offended. And if he took Terry's side, Jenna would never forgive him.

"No... No. Stop... Get off me. Please stop!" Jenna screamed and Jeremiah bolted towards the bedroom. She was thrashing around, sweating her head moving from side to side. He got in bed and held her down.

"Shh it's okay baby. It's just a dream. Am here my love. Am right here" he told her his heart breaking. Her nightmares were back and the were was nothing he could do to shield her from them. Seeing her mother after so long had reopened all her old wounds.

"Jeremy" she asked in a small voice. In that moment he saw the little girl she had been. Lost and scared longing for her mother. "Please don't leave me" she sobbed into his chest.

"Never Jennifer. I'll never leave you so please stop crying. I hate seeing you like this. Please stop crying. Please" he begged her but she only cried harder. He wished he could have protected her from the pain she felt. He wished he had kept her longer from meeting his family. This way she wouldn't be hurting right then.

They didn't sleep. Jenna was scared of reliving her nightmares and Jeremiah couldn't find it in himself to even close his eyes. His mind was running in all directions trying to find a solution. Come morning they got up. Jenna went to the bathroom and Jeremiah went downstairs to fix breakfast. He was hungry but the thought of eating anything made him want to throw up. He didn't doubt Jenna felt the same. So he put on coffee and packed last night's dinner in containers shoving them in the fridge.

"Drink" he handed Jenna a cup when she came down. Her eyes were red and puffy despite taking a shower and he could see how exhausted she was in her eyes. She drank the coffee like water then went to the terrace and sat on one of the chairs. He followed her sitting next to her.

"Listen Jennifer. About Terry.... "

"Don't ever mention her to me ever again" she cut him off with a cold hard voice looking him straight in the eyes.

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Honestly who saw that coming? Be honest. Lying is a sin

This was always the backbone of this story. I thought about it before I even thought about the beginning or the end. Do you like it, do you hate it?

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