Hours Earlier. . .

Her skin was slick with sweat, her body taut with desire. Slowly, his hands moved over her, along her thighs, up and over her hips to her stomach, from her stomach to Tue swell of her breasts. Biting down on her bottom lip, she arched her back, leaning into his touch. His hands electrified every part if her naked body they touched.

She felt the heat of his breath over her forehead and opened her eyes. His face hovered over hers, his eyes dark and compelling. His gaze was so hot it seared her skin and her tongue flicked out, slowly moistening her lips, inviting him to kiss her, but stayed where he was, pinning her with his beguiling eyes.

He wanted to tease her, torture her with his expert seduction. He was doing a good job. She would go crazy if he didn't satisfy her soon.

"Kiss me," she begged, and slipped her arms around his neck.

In the air, her hands groped, searched, but found nothing.

Instantly, Annie bolted upright in her seat and discovered she was still on the plane and they were still in the air. Her body was on fire with a passion she couldn't describe. She felt someone stir beside her, and she smiled at the thought of she and Jovon doing the naughty in the plane bathroom.

She turned in her seat, ready to tell Jovon about her dream,but only to stop short. The man beside her was nothing like Jovon. Okay, maybe they had the same eyes, but that was where the resemblance ended. Lukas returned her gaze, worry swimming around in his.

It was then everything came crashing down on her. The night on the boat. The dinner. The dance on the deck. The contract. She and Jovon's fight. The kick to her chest. The family deserting her because they believed she was trying to blackmail their beloved son.

Even though she spent two days in a hotel in Santiago hoping against hope that Jovon would call her and say it was all a big misunder-standing, he didn't. In fact, each time she called him he sent her call to voicemail. Then he disconnected the line finally.

Annie had cried herself to sleep those two nights with Lukas by her side. It seemed he was the only one who believed her, well he was the reason why she was in this mess the first place, but he'd left his family for her. He'd comforted her until she fell asleep each time she cried. He made sure that she ate, despite her refusal. He always reminded her of the new life growing inside her, and how she needed to stop hurting herself least she put the baby in danger.

He had been her voice of reason when all thoughts fled her. He did for her what the man she loved should be doing right now. Lukas had been the one who told her that she needed to return home. He even promised to deliver her at the doorstep of her house before leaving.

What he didn't know was that she wasn't going to let him go yet. He stayed with her when he should be angry at her for dragging him into her mess, but he stayed. That was all that mattered.

Annie couldn't help but wish that she'd met him first. He wasn't what Jovon said he was. He was caring and attentive. Maybe one day she would forget about Jovon and move on. Maybe she would grow to love Lukas, if he would have her. He didn't say anything, but Annie knew he desired her. She could marry him out of spite to Jovon. Let him see what he lost.

Annie sighed as she turned to look out the window. Clouds rushed by as they went. They looked like the mirror of her life; bleak and empty.

"Are you okay,Annie?" Lukas spoke up from beside her.

Annie turned to look at him. "I don't know."

He nodded in understanding. "I understand how you feel. But I don't want you to worry too much. Just stop thinking and start resting." He sighed. "Do you still feel pains in your chest?"

Yes, she did. But she wasn't going to make him worry than it was necessary. "No. I-i'm fine."

He nodded again. "That's good. Do you want anything to eat? Water?"

"No." Her gaze dropped to her right wrist where the bracelet, Jovon gave her the other night, sat. It was the only think of Jovon she had left. The locket was tucked away in her purse, while the earrings were missing. They looked so happy in that picture.

Her heart squeezed and soon tears filled her eyes again.

"Hey." Lukas leaned across the chair armrest. He cupped her face in his hands and lifted her head until she was staring into his eyes. "Don't cry." His thumb caught the lone tears that ran down her cheek. "Please, don't cry again."

"It's hurting me." She gasped, clutching at her chest. "It hurts so much."

"I know." He soothed. "I know."

Annie's tears intensified when Lukas pulled her into his arms. She buried her face in his chest as she fought to get her tears under control.

"Is she okay, sir?" A hostess approached them in concern.

"Hormones." Lukas mouthed to her. "She's pregnant."

"Oh." The hostess nodded in understanding. "I'll get her a glass if water."

"Thanks."

Lukas held her away from his embrace and wiped her wet face with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. Then he proceeded to drop a short kiss on her forehead before pulling her into his arms again. After calming her down and making her drink a glass of water, Lukas folded her coat and placed it against the plane's wall near the headrest, then lay her head against the makeshift pillow.

"Go on. Rest." He told her softly. "We'll be in Philadelphia by the time you wake up."

"Thank you so much, Lukas." Closing her eyes, she moved around until she found a comfortable place then went to sleep.

Only when the plane came to a full stop on the tarmac in Philadelphia did she open her eyes again. Her stomach growled at the lack of food inside. She yawned as she rubbed her stomach. Annie looked up. Lukas was standing, removing his and her carry-on bag from above. Even with the lower half of his body covered by casual black pants, she could tell he was string, muscular legs.

She jerked her eyes away. Just because he was attractive creature didn't mean she had to stare.

Bag in hand, he faced her and smiled. "You're awake."

Annie tried and failed to smile in return. "Yes."

Her head spinning with thoughts, Annie sat in her seat until the people from the last row had made their way past them. She was worried about Jovon and wondered if he was doing okay. He would probably withdraw into himself. It should be none of her concern since they weren't together anymore but she was worried sick about him.

It was when she rose and looped her coat through her arm, that the thought suddenly hit her. What if he decided to end his own life because he couldn't bare the thought if being betrayed? Of loosing another person in his life?

"L-Lukas. Give me your phone." She clutched his arm. "Please."

Lukas placed a hand over hers. "Calm down,Annie. You can't use your phone while you're still on the plane. I'll give it to you when we claim our baggage."

Annie bit her tongue to stop herself from protesting. Her bag over her shoulder, she dragged her feet to the front of the plane, now feeling like a train wreck. It was a lot to take in at the moment so she didn't dwell on it.

Lukas found their luggage and they made their way through the busy airport in silence. Lukas gave her his phone and he left her with the bags after murmuring something about finding a taxi for them.

Annie went to his contacts immediately and began to scroll through it until she found Jovon's name. She dialled the number and waited for him to pick up, but he sent it to voicemail as usual. She decided then that she would send him instead.

"Hi,Jovon. I-it's, Annie." She wrapped her free arm around her waist. "I know you don't want to talk to me, a-and don't worry. After this I won't send you any message or call you anymore. I-i just want you to know that I lo-love you so much it hurts." She paused to gaze at the sky while blinking back her tears. "You were the best thing that ever happened to me in a very long time. You were caring. Attentive. Generous. Kind. Remember the first time we made had sex. It was incredible. No one ever made me feel like that. I kept thinking about how to get close to you and discover what you were hiding. I wanted to help you heal from whatever you were suffering from.

"That time in the rain when you used your body to shield mine. . . I think that was the first time I fell in love with you. Even though you treated me like shit after. Watching movies with you were the best moments. Watching you smile. . . it was the highlight of my day." She sniffed,not fighting against the tears this time. She let them roll down her cheeks freely. "Each minute I spent with you these past weeks were the best weeks of my life. When I discovered I was pregnant," A pause. She dashed away her tears with the back of her hand. "You made me love you. Made me fall head over heels with you, even though i didn't want to. But you broke me too. You hurt me in the worst way possible.

"You broke my wings. My spirit. My soul. My heart. You hurt me physically emotionally. You became my nightmare."

Annie startled when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She was surprised when she saw tears trailing down his face. Although he made no sound, he was crying. Tears made steady lines down his cheeks.

Her heart squeezed. "You, that made me happy once, are making me sad again. I thought I knew what pain was before, but it's incomparable to the pain you put me through. In case you hear this, know that you're the love of my life. I miss having you by my side already. If you ever listen to this, then know how much I love you. I would take care of the baby without asking anything from you anymore. Lukas promised to be with me every step of the way, and I am confident that he would do what you're supposed to do. He would be the father you've never and would ever be to our baby. He would take your place. He would help me forget you ever existed." She took a deep shaky breath, but made sure her voice was free of any emotion when she delivered her parting shot. "You're dead to me."

She ended the message and handed to phone to Lukas. "Don't cry,Lukas. He's not worth it." She used the back of her hand to clean his face. "I'm suddenly very hungry. Do you want to eat something too?"

Lukas regarded her for a minute as if he was waiting for her to break down at any given moment but she kept the fake-smile on her face, until he nodded at her.

"There's a diner over there." He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder.
"Let's go then." Annie carried her bag,but Lukas collected it from her.

They made their way into the small but cozy diner. Annie ordered a small plate of steamed Quahog and a glass of Apple juice, while Lukas ordered a large Hamburger and coke. When the waitress left, Annie busied herself with turning her phone on. Messages and voice mails rolled in instantly.

She scrolled through them hoping she would see his but was disappointed to find none. Sighing, she locked her phone and dropped it on the table. She turned to look out the window, since Lukas had chosen a window seat for them. People bustled on the sidewalks, going about their business. Traffic flowed steadily. Several taxi drivers hurried forward each time they saw someone emerging from the airport with a luggage in hand. Children ran across the street laughing merrily as they went. Two guys hung out near the dinner, looking so shady in their black attire. They were no doubts pickpockets, seeing as one of them managed to pick a man's wallet from the back pocket of his jeans without him noticing it.

"Your food is here." Lukas startled her out of her reverie.

Annie tore her gaze away and met his own. His eyes were still a bit red around the edges and his nose was red too. He had dark circles under his eyes, which made her feel sad. She felt selfish. He had been so worried about her that he barely had the time to sleep. He listened to her words, wiped her tears and had been supportive for the past two days. She had been so worried about herself that she didn't realize that he was hurting too. His own family just abandoned him for what wasn't even true.

"Go on and eat,Lukas." She said. "You should sleep when we get into the taxi. You look tired."

Lukas bit into his burger. "You're what matters to me."

Annie smiled genuinely this time around. "You matter too, Lukas. I would be worried of something were to happen to you. And I do know that the last thing you want is a worried me."

"Okay." He sipped her coke. "I will sleep as you wish. But first excuse me. I need to use the bathroom."

Annie nodded as she drank her juice. She watched him until he was out of sight before leaning into her seat with a sigh. She felt emotionally and physically drained. She was putting up a brave front because of Lukas. She didn't want to made her sad again.

Her phone vibrated on the table, signalling she had a message.

Annie scrambled for her phone in hopes that it was Jovon, but was disappointed to see that it was from an unknown number. Frowning, she opened the message and saw that the person sent her a video.

Annie pressed play. The first thing she saw was Brown Eyes running down the sidewalk towards Merry's townhouse. Then him going through the front door and the house exploded. There were several snapshots Merry's mutilated body.

Annie jerked to her feet with a gasp. Tears cascaded down her face as the video played on.

It finally ended with words that said: 'Your family is next'.

Worried out of her mind, she dashed out of the diner and jumped into the first taxi she saw. After firing the destination at the panicked driver, she began to call every one of her family, but none of them answered their phone. It kept going to voicemail.

The taxi stopped for the traffic and Annie pushed the door open. She heard the man calling after her far away in her mind,but she couldn't, didn't stop. Not when her family was in danger of dying.

Annie ran for all she was worth. She only paused long enough to remove her shoe, yet she continued. She kept on trying their number through her hazy gaze, praying to God that she wasn't too late.  When she entered the street leading to their house heard sirens echoing in the distance. Annie's heart tightened as tears flowed freely down her face now. She continued to run even when her lungs hurt from the exertion.

Her right foot caught a pothole and she went tumbling down. A scream tore out of her lips when she landed on her left arm. Passerby's stopped to watch her. She heard someone yell for someone to call nine-one-one. Her whole world came to a stop for a minute when flashes of the videos ran though her head.

Her heartbeat accelerated. Annie pushed herself to her feet with the little strength she had. She managed few steps forward on her wobbly legs, but fell down again.

"Miss, please stay down. The ambulance is on it's way!" A woman shouted as she crossed the street towards Annie.

Annie swayed as she pushed up to her feet again. "M-my fami-mi-mi-ly-ly." Her teeth chattered with the effort.

Her tears had longed dried up. It was as if she was not in control of her body anymore. Everything felt numb and hazy. She staggered forward, barely aware of anything anymore.

"That is Annie Mckade!" A girl shouted. "Oh, God! Someone call nine-one-one. She's bleeding!"

Annie continued moving forward until the gate of her house came into view. She waddled up the cobbled-stone walkway. Saliva poured out of her lips, snoot mixed in with her saliva, but she was barely aware of it. All she could think of was her family. Dreading the sight she would see when she opened the door.

She heard camera flashes going off behind her. Annie continued up the stairs and threw the door-open. Her legs refused to move anymore than that. She heard a shocked gasp.

Her heart sped up at the sound. Dare she hope. . .

"A-are you alright?" That familiar voice asked.

Annie wanted to reply. Wanted to scream for joy, but nothing came out of her mouth. Her body felt like it was floating on the air. Her throat burned so hot that it felt like someone set a fire there.

"W-who are y-you?"

Cassie.

Annie took a step forward. She took another one with her last strength. She opened her mouth again to let another word through, but nothing came out. Then she felt her body lurch forward. She let herself go, not having any strength again. Her body hit the floor, knocking out what little breath she had left.

Right there, on the floor in her family home. On the twenty-ninth of August two thousand and nineteen, Ansela Mckade breathed her last.

The End.

____________________________________

A/N: I was just kidding. In fact the story just began. And I must warn you now that from here on  it's going to be a bumpy and emotional rollercoaster for everyone including me. So here's an handkerchief in advance to y'all.

*Hands out handkerchiefs *

I might not update this week, seeing as I penned out eight chapters and also because I need a little break to clear my head. This book is toying with my emotions big time and I feel so bad for Annie that I just want to end it now. Which would be really really bad.

I hope you can understand me.

See you in two Sundays.

Also, don't forget to vote, comment, and share.

~ Jasmine.A.