Jane moved quietly around the kitchen, her fingers brushing against the smooth wooden counter as if it were already a memory. The morning light filtered through the curtains in Jeremy’s house, spilling gold across the tiled floor. For the past two weeks, this kitchen had been hers to wander, this space a refuge Jeremy had insisted she take when the leaking roof and noisy repairs at her own apartment had become unbearable.But today was different. Today, she was leaving.Jeremy had said nothing when she first agreed to stay, just offered the spare room with that calm, steady smile of his. He made it sound like nothing—“You’ll hardly notice me around,” he’d said—but Jane noticed everything. The way he always rose early, the way he pretended not to hover when she cooked, the way his eyes lingered a little too long when she laughed at something silly.Now, with her bags packed and waiting by the door, Jane fussed with the frying pan as if breakfast could delay goodbye. She heard footsteps in the hallway—light, restless, unsteady. Jeremy hadn’t slept. She knew it before she turned to see him leaning on the doorframe, hair tousled, gaze fixed on her as though she were both the comfort and the storm.“The thought of you leaving today didn’t allow me to sleep,” he confessed, voice low and raw.Jane’s heart stumbled.“Jeremy, I’m only leaving your house, not your life. We’re still friends. You can call me anytime.” His eyes hold hers too long. “But what about my proposal?”Jane’s chest tightens. She forces herself to look anywhere but him. “Jeremy…”He comes closer, his voice softer now, almost boyish. “Don’t you like me at all?”Her hands are shaking, though she hides them in the folds of her dress. “I’m do,” she whispers. “I think I must have loved you since the moment I saw you months ago. You walked in with all that charm, that easy charisma, and—”“—and you hated me for it?” He grins, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.“No. I lost my breath,” she admits. “But that’s exactly how Philip appeared too. And every time I look at you, I remember him.”The name slices the air open. Philip. The ghost that haunts the corners of her mind.Jeremy swallows, his jaw tightening, but he doesn’t push. Instead, he turns back, his silence saying everything.Later that morning at work, Jane finds a letter on her desk. The envelope carries Jeremy’s familiar handwriting, slightly hurried, slightly proud. Her stomach twists as she breaks the seal.“Dear Jane,” it begins.“Thank you for reading this. I have been hurt before. My bride walked out on me at the altar—ran away with my closest friend, draining what little money I had left. I was broken, Jane. I made fun of love, mocked couples holding hands, swore never to be one of them. I thought love was a scam people fell for like cheap lottery tickets.Then you appeared. And no matter how I tried, I couldn’t shake the pull toward you. You proved to me that love is not a trick—it is survival, it is truth.So this is me saying: I’ll wait. Take as much time as you need. I’ll always be here, loving you, waiting for you to come home. Please respond to my proposal when you are ready.”Her chest tightens. She places the letter face down on her desk, then flips it over, then face down again. As though the words themselves burn.Jeremy is beyond perfect.Just like Philip was.Her thoughts spiral, dragging her back into memories she hates to remember.Philip, with his smooth laugh and promises that glittered like glass—beautiful until they cut her. Philip, who shifted from tender to terrifying in the space of a heartbeat. Philip, whose absence is still a presence in her body.The fear crawls up her spine.“What if Jeremy changes too?” she mutters aloud without realizing.Her colleague who also doubles as her best friend, Amaka, walking into her office with a file, raises a brow. “Talking to yourself again? At least this time don’t argue too loudly—you might win.”Amaka leaned closer, lowering her voice, almost whispering. “So, what’s the latest with Doctor Romeo?”Jane sighed, cleaning off something from her desk with a hand towel. “Jeremy. His name is Jeremy. And nothing is happening.”“Really? Because the way you’re glowing, something is definitely happening. Spill.”Jane forces a smile and shows her Jeremy's letter, but her voice cracks. “I’m serious. What if I marry Jeremy and he turns out like Philip?”Amaka plants herself against Jane’s desk. “Okay, first of all— This is a beautiful letter. Second, Jeremy is not Philip. Third, you’ve been punishing yourself for Philip’s mistakes long enough. The man died years ago and you’re still living under his ghost.”“His ghost is in my chest,” Jane whispers.Amaka softens, but her tone still carries steel. “Then maybe it’s time you kicked him out.”

Having faced a life of abuse, violence and loneliness at an early age. Jane's quest to find someone leads her into making very drastic decisions. Whether she would recover from this or not, is something we would find out after reading.

Growing up, Jane had great aspirations for herself and her mother. Unfortunately, the death of her mother, coupled with the beginning of her stepfather's sexual abuse of her, caused her to experience her world for the first time as a bitter taste. She had no idea, then, that she was about to go on a roller coaster ride of abuse, humiliation, and neglect. However, life provides her with a second chance to live a better life, and whether she chooses to take advantage of this opportunity or not will be revealed in the book.