Chapter 2 — The Goodbye He Never Heard
394 Words
Ella didn’t remember walking out of the hotel.
All she remembered was the rain.
Cold drops falling on her face, mixing with the tears she refused to let fall.
She placed one hand over her stomach as she walked down the empty street.
“Baby…” she whispered softly. “It’s just you and me now.”
Her heart was breaking, but she knew one thing.
She couldn’t stay.
Not after seeing Lucas choose another woman.
Not after realising she was about to become a secret in the life of the man she loved.
⸻
Three days later, Ella sat inside her small apartment, staring at the suitcase on the floor.
Everything she owned was packed.
Her old life was inside those bags.
Her memories with Lucas.
Their late-night conversations.
His promises.
“I’ll never leave you, Ella.”
The words echoed in her mind.
A painful laugh escaped her lips.
“Forever didn’t last very long, did it?”
A knock came from the door.
Ella quickly wiped her tears.
It was her best friend, Mia.
The moment Mia saw the bags, her face changed.
“You’re leaving?”
Ella looked away.
“I have to.”
“Ella… does Lucas know?”
Silence.
That was her answer.
Mia’s eyes widened.
“You’re not telling him about the baby?”
Ella touched her stomach gently.
“No.”
“But why?”
Because she knew Lucas.
Because if he knew, he would come back out of guilt.
Not love.
And Ella didn’t want a man who stayed because of responsibility.
She wanted the man who chose her.
“I don’t want my child growing up feeling like a mistake,” Ella whispered.
Mia hugged her tightly.
“You’re stronger than you think.”
Ella closed her eyes.
She wanted to believe that.
⸻
That night, Ella left the city.
No goodbye.
No message.
No explanation.
Lucas Knight woke up the next morning believing Ella would still be there.
He believed she would call.
He believed she would forgive him.
But when he checked his phone…
Nothing.
For the first time in his life, Lucas Knight felt something he couldn’t control.
Fear.
He searched for her.
But Ella Carter had disappeared.
And she took his biggest secret with her.
Five years later…
A little boy with Lucas Knight’s eyes was about to change everything.
- Writer
