Chapter 7
1009 Words
Three months later...
Ella stood in front of the mirror, one hand resting protectively on her growing belly.
The old apartment she now called home was small — barely big enough for a bed, a battered couch, and a kitchen that groaned every time she opened a cabinet — but it was hers.
It was a safe place where she could hide from the memories that haunted her every day.
She traced slow, absent circles over the soft swell of her stomach, feeling the faint flutter of the baby inside.
A tiny life.
A miracle.
The one thing she hadn't been able to say no to.
Her throat tightened painfully.
When she had looked into Nathan’s eyes that night — when he had knelt down and asked her to marry him — it had nearly destroyed her.
And yet she had said the words.
She had told him no.
Because loving someone wasn't always enough.
Because fear, guilt, and broken pieces of herself had screamed louder than her heart.
Ella closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to the mirror.
"I’m sorry," she whispered.
The apology wasn’t just for Nathan anymore.
It was for the little life inside her too.
For the choices she had made.
For the love she had left behind.
---
Nathan sat in his office, the city lights casting long, cold shadows across the floor.
The ring still sat in his desk drawer.
Untouched.
Forgotten by everyone but him.
Some days, he took it out and stared at it, the memory of that night burning into his soul like a brand.
He remembered her eyes, shining with tears.
The way her voice had broken when she said, "I can't."
The way she had turned and run before he could even understand what had happened.
Nathan gritted his teeth and leaned back in his chair.
He had searched for her.
God, he had tried.
Every private investigator, every connection, every desperate move he could think of — all had led to nothing.
Ella had vanished as if the universe itself had swallowed her whole.
But he hadn't stopped looking.
He would never stop.
Because no matter how hard he tried to move forward, he couldn't erase the feeling that she was still out there, hurting, alone, just like he was.
Some nights, when the loneliness became too much, he found himself wandering the streets near where she used to live, where they used to meet, where they used to dream.
Hoping.
Praying.
Needing.
Tonight was one of those nights.
---
Ella wrapped a thick scarf around her neck and stepped outside, cradling her belly against the sharp bite of the evening wind.
The streets bustled with life — Christmas lights strung across lampposts, couples laughing, children running ahead of their parents — but she felt separate from it all.
Like she was moving through a world that didn’t see her anymore.
She stopped by a little café on the corner, the same one she and Nathan had gone to once on a rainy afternoon, hiding from the storm and sharing a slice of chocolate cake.
Without thinking, she peered through the window, heart pounding painfully.
For one dizzying second, she thought she saw him.
A tall figure sitting at the back, his dark hair ruffled, his broad shoulders hunched over a cup of coffee.
Ella's breath caught in her throat.
Her body leaned forward involuntarily, drawn by hope and heartbreak.
But it wasn’t him.
Of course it wasn’t.
She turned away quickly, blinking back tears, clutching her belly like it was the only thing anchoring her to this earth.
"Stay strong," she whispered.
"For both of us."
---
Nathan parked his car a few blocks away, gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white.
He had been chasing shadows for months.
Every street looked like a memory.
Every crowd seemed to hold her face.
Tonight was no different.
But something pulled at him — a whisper in his blood, a feeling he couldn’t ignore.
He got out of the car and started walking, aimless but determined.
And for a split second — he could have sworn — he saw her.
A flash of familiar hair.
A glimpse of a grey scarf.
A figure disappearing into the crowd.
"Ell—" he started, voice cracking, but she was already gone.
Nathan stood there, breathless, heart racing.
Had it been her?
Or was he just seeing what he desperately wanted to see?
He pressed a hand over his chest, closing his eyes.
“Please,” he whispered to the wind.
“Come back to me.”
---
Ella climbed the stairs to her apartment, one slow, aching step at a time.
Her body was exhausted.
Her mind was numb.
Her heart was a thousand shattered pieces she didn't know how to put back together.
Inside, she sank onto the bed, wrapping her arms around herself.
The baby kicked gently, as if sensing her sadness.
Ella laughed softly through her tears.
"I'm okay," she whispered.
"I’m okay, little one.
I’ll keep us safe. I promise."
But she didn’t feel okay.
She felt like half of her soul was still standing in that restaurant, waiting, hoping, breaking.
---
Across the city, Nathan stared out his penthouse window, the world stretching out endlessly below him.
He pressed his hand to the cold glass, remembering the way Ella had looked at him — scared but loving, broken but brave.
He couldn’t hate her.
He couldn’t even be angry anymore.
All he wanted was to find her.
To see her face again.
To hear her voice say his name.
Because despite everything — despite the rejection, despite the silence —
He still loved her.
He always would.
---
In two separate places, under the same endless sky,
two broken hearts beat for each other.
Two souls called out silently, desperately.
The distance between them was wide.
But the love between them was wider still.
And somehow, deep down, they both knew:
Their story wasn’t over yet.
It was only just beginning.
- Writer
