THE BILLIONAIRE'S SECRET VOW

Episode three:A glance at the past

Emma sat at the desk in the office of Daniel Thornton, and her hands hovered over the keyboard, caressing the contours of it. Three days had passed since her dalliance at Daniel’s penthouse, and her mind was still heavily laden with the picture that she had stumbled on. The woman’s image was etched in a bright smile in her mind. Who was that? What was it about her that he made Emma conditional in inquiring but was not to be seen in his ken? Emma yearned for the rightful explanation that it was Daniel, but she had enough decorum to not blurt the question out. He had put the past to them, never to be breached, and she was not going to earmark it—at the very least, not in public.

Rachel was taken aback when Daniel stepped into the previously closed door and her chin came up; the perfect portrait of a man as inscrutable as ever. He walked into the room with an air of a man who had ruled empires. However, Emma sensed the tension beneath the pride, tension in his shoulders which had not gone away since their chat in the penthouse.

“Miss Hart,” he said with the flatness of tone one would expect from someone restraining his emotion, “there is something you should do and that is going to the stores, and procure all the financial reports for the previous three quarters and have them ready for my perusal before this afternoon.”

“As you say, Mr. Thornton,” Emma said, making note of the information already. She turned her face to him and looked quickly at his expression, wishing to see what was on his thoughts—even a little bit. But Daniel was not looking at her; his eyes were somewhere outside, nearer what appeared a distant horizon.

“Do you want any other thing?” she asked in an attempt to sound businesslike even though her thoughts were things of chaos and churned with several questions that needed answers.

There was a slight pause in the reply which Emma perceived. “No,” he said, turning his head away. “That will be all.”

Emma stood stationary, unable to avert her gaze from him as he walked to his desk with her on his back and the air was tense. She felt the urge to utter a word or two, wanting to bridge the yawning gap between them, but the attempt failed, and the words got choked. She turned her eyes back to her task instead, pained by the unbearable silence between them.

More time progressed in the morning and more of the time, Emma found herself drowning in heaps and heaves of papers and documents. It was a tiresome duty, nevertheless, it afforded her the time to think about Daniel and that woman in the picture. She tried to build a story in her mind from the relevant pieces of his life history, but every bit of information was just too far away.

Yet, this feeling of having authority does not work until she actually goes deep into the financial reports that were brought up by the issues. One file in particular, that was underneath some older files, suddenly appeared to her. The file was dated differently from the others and it was also older. Emma was confused and interested, so she took the file out to examine.

To her disappointment, however, she still found more paper attached within—a file still filled with legal attachments, those contracts and some notes written by hand on the merger between the companies which took place several years back. But what roused her curiosity even more was a letter which was found precisely folded in the last portion of the folder. The letter had been written in a beautiful hand and contained a salutation to one Daniel.

As a result, Emma quickly started to cast her eyes on the interior of the letter which she opened up to read, and her heart beat faster than before.

My Dearest Daniel,

I know that you will never forgive yourself for what happened. But you have to understand that it was not your fault. You were protecting me. For as long as I live I shall, I appreciate every bit of that. Don’t let tragedy be the only thing that shapes your life. I want you to exist and enjoy life again, even if it means you have to forget to that extent.

I'll always love you. Forever and always.

Catherine.

Emma’s breath hitched. This was the piece of the puzzle she had been seeking all along. Catherine was not just another person; she was quite important to Daniel, and him losing her still cast a shadow upon him. But even before she finished comprehending the contents, the office’s door opened, and in rushed Daniel.

“What are you doing?” Daniel lowered his tone, daringly fixing his gaze on the folder Emma held in her hands. Within a few strides, he was by her side, snatching the letter out of her hands before she had the chance to speak.

“I-I am sorry,” Emma exclaimed with a quicker heartbeat than normal, apologizing. “I didn’t mean to on purpose...”

“This doesn’t concern you,” cleanly disregarding her, Daniel seethed, his rage incandescent. Emma, for the first time, witnessed the mask disappear to expose the deep ache resting beneath the calm and collected exterior. “You cannot go snooping around my history.”

“I don’t think I was going to snoop, I,” Emma replied, half the words an apology and half an exasperated plea. “I was simply…”

“Enough!” The sword of his voice cleaved through the air like cut glass. Daniel lashed the letter in his hand like a shock to the surroundings, half furious and half blank. He refused to look at her and turned his back on her. “Miss Hart, you came here to do a task.” “Nothing more.”

The words went deep, but their value could not be lost. She stepped forward, lowering her voice. “Daniel, I know how deep this hurts you. Whatever it is, don’t suffer in silence.”

Daniel froze and strained his body in such a way, Emma thought he would break. The stillness in the room stretched for several long moments with only the sound of the city heard. Finally, Daniel spoke, and his voice was barely audible.

"You don’t understand," he stated, keeping his back towards her. I had a dialogue. I will not, however, break it, "Not now or will I ever in the future."

"What vow?" Emma's voice dipped as she had fear and curiosity enveloping her. She knew fully well that she was overstepping, but she couldn't help it.

Daniel turned to face her with a disturbing look on his face akin to anger and desperation. “A vow that nobody will come closer to me again,” he said firmly. “Not after what happened to Catherine."

The air in the room seemed stifling, the tension brought forth by his statement engulfing all in a heavy mist. Emma felt some coldness within her but still, she would not relent. “But, Daniel, that is not living. "You are doing this to yourself for something that was not even your doing."

Daniel’s gaze locked on hers and for a flicker of a second, she registered something in truth, it was probably remorse or yearning. But before she could examine it further, it was already gone and transformed to the coldness that money can’t buy – the kind that was characteristic of him. “This discussion is finished,” he said in the most prudent way, before turning his back to her again. “Put the folder down and leave.”

Emma wanted to counter, wanted to shove him, but she already realized there was no point in doing so. He has built walls that are way higher than what’s reasonable, and they have been fortified by years of suffering and guilt. With pain, she sat the folder down on his desk and walked out of his office, the door shutting violently behind her resonated in her ears.

As she strolled down the corridor, her thoughts spiraled with everything that she had internalized. Daniel Thornton was a tortured soul who had lived under a curse, bound by an oath that turned his existence into a dungeon. But Emma felt there was more to it than that, something she needed to investigate. And what that something was, she was willing to put everything on the line.

In the office, Daniel remained on his own, the fingers of his hand doughy structuralism over the scrunched-up letter. Once again, he returned to those words, feeling that familiar pain in his chest, bearing down on his form like a heavy baulk, physically blocking any movement for the oaths that were sworn. But this time, there was a pain like the one that had been felt before, only it was slightly different, more disturbing. There was a warmth that began to unravel the walls he had, so situations equipped him with, and it had a name.

Emma Hart.

Daniel ground his jaw and placed the letter back into the files, locking it in his bottom office drawer. He had no time for distractions and did not want to allow anyone close to him. But as he looked out to the city beyond, he found himself still unable to put off a certain thought from his mind.

What if it is too late?