Shadow of the Past

Chapter 1

My heart pounded, the beat resonating in the quiet of the large ballroom. I heard the muted whispers of the guests, our gazes flicking back and forth between me and Ethan, but everything else seemed far away. I was rooted, my hand shaking a little as I clutched the letter in my fist. Ethan, my betrothed, the man who used to be my friend, now stood before me like a stranger.

The letter had been pushed into my hand by a shaking servant, the ink wet. "Ethan's betrayal," it said, the words burning into mine like a hot iron. And in the next line—"Your child has been stolen."

"No… no… no… my baby… not my baby please… no…" I had already broken my voice due to how many years searching for my baby. They'd been hiding my baby for so long. But why? What is the relationship of the little baby between them? Why does it have to be me and my baby?

My gaze flew to Ethan, the man who was meant to guard me and my child, the man whose name was tagged with mine in a life I never had a say in. I noticed in his face, icy and expressionless and did not express the shock that I would have anticipated. He was always adept at concealing his emotions, but I knew him too intimately. I knew him all too well, but is five years of knowing him sufficient? Is this the reason he didn't always keep his promise? But I could only hear his silence was deafening.

"What is this, Ethan? Please tell me! Tell me! I beg of you!" I nearly whispered, my voice not more than a thread as I struggled to hold back the tears.

The room began to shut in on her. The whispers were growing louder. She could feel the heaviness of their eyes like an avalanche of rocks upon her breast. She wished to scream. To demand an explanation. But she didn't know where to start.

"You know the rules, Ava," Ethan finally said, his deep voice, but the nervous edge could not be suppressed. "This is bigger than you think." Ava's breath hitched. What can be greater than this when he already has me and our baby? Isn't he glad that we have been together for how many years?

But he had just made it official. He was involved. Ethan had betrayed her, and now, the very family that had been destroyed by schemes and lies was descending further into chaos.

I stepped back, and my head was still reeling. The letter was explicit. Ethan. My daughter, whom I had named Camille, whom I had given birth to, was a beautiful baby girl only long months before. In preparation to present to the family, to reveal a new chapter. But now—now my joy had been taken away from me, creating a hollow which Ava couldn't replace.

I spun to Ethan, my voice growing louder as my rage got constructed. "Tell me everything. Why? Why would you do this? How could you do this to me? Why?"

Ethan's eyes wavered for an instant before he looked at her, his face now a mask of icy determination. "It wasn't supposed to go like that, Ava. None of it. I was only following orders."

Orders. Her breath caught in my throat. She had understood for years that our engagement was never about love. Their families had planned it long before they had the opportunity to make any choices for themselves. But the realization that Ethan had betrayed her, had been involved in a scheme that went beyond their own individual lives—it was a truth too bitter to accept.

"Orders from whom?" I whispered.

Ethan didn't respond immediately. He looked around the room, ensuring no one else was within earshot. He stepped closer to me, his voice dropping to a rough whisper. "You don't get it. It's not about you and me. It's about power, Ava. This marriage. It is a political gesture. It always has been."

The truth struck Ava like a thunderclap. Power. Control. Her family's money and status had always been the reason for her proposal to Ethan. But now the game they were playing was different. The stakes were higher than she could ever have dreamed.

I shook my head, the burden of the betrayal too much to carry. "So all these years, the love we shared, the moments we shared. Were they all lies?"

Ethan's face softened for the flashiest of moments, a hint of something human passing across his face. But then, in a blink, it was gone again. "It's not like that. Not exactly. But there's more going on here than you understand.

Ava's gut twisted in his words. "What do you mean?" Her voice was little more than a whisper.

"Our child… It wasn't what it appeared to be, Ava. It was never intended to be stolen. Your family has always been a pawn in a bigger game. The child was stolen to secure the future of the family."

"Taken?" Ava echoed, her voice trembling. "What do you mean, taken? What do you mean taking Ethan! That's our child! OUR CHILD!"

Before Ethan could respond, the ballroom doors burst open with a force that resonated throughout the room. Ava spun sharply, her eyes wide with bewilderment, and then, the shock that crossed her face was duplicated by the gasps from the bystanders. A band of masked men with guns stood in the doorway, carrying the little bundle that had been her happiness.

Ava's breath hitched. Her baby. The child had been taken right out from under their eyes. A hundred feelings washed through her: anger, fear, confusion. The child was in danger. Her daughter is in danger—the precious life that had been ripped from her arms—was now in the possession of strangers.

"Ethan!" she shouted, her voice raw with terror. "What have you done?"

He didn't reply. He instead walked ahead, arms lifted in capitulation as the men approached.

The group's leader inclined toward Ethan and spoke to the room. "This child serves a larger cause. And not your family decides what is best for it."

Ava saw the ground she stood on sag. This wasn't a betrayal. This wasn't about power. This was about control over a life, a life which was supposed to be hers, her family's. Her daughter, with the hope of a fresh start, was taken from them.

"You can't just take her!" Ava screamed, her voice shaking with rage. She's a child! You don't have the right to—"

"The rights of families don't matter when weighed against the rights of power," the masked one cut in, his voice unfeeling and devoid of emotion. This child is involved in something greater. You'll all come to see that in time."

"No! That child is mine! Please I beg you…" I sobbed before them.

One of the masked men approached her with smooth, practiced speed, putting a hand on her arm. The cold of his fingers sent a shiver of fear through her, and as he drew her into the room's center, her brain reeled for something, anything, to make this make sense.

Ethan's expression remained impenetrable. He waited in the periphery, while Ava was dragged to the forefront, the uproar swirling everywhere.

"Why are you doing this, Ethan?" Ava cried out, her voice breaking. "Why did you allow this to occur?"

He met her gaze, his eyes dark with an unreadable emotion. "Because, Ava… some things are bigger than us. Bigger than our families. This marriage, the child—it was never meant to be. You’ll see. Soon, you’ll understand."

And just like that, the ballroom fell into silence.

Ava's heart raced, but she could not force the words out. All she knew—everything she believed in—was disappearing. Her engagement to Ethan, her family, her child, and now, the inexplicable, otherworldly forces operating behind the scenes. She was in a trap of lies and illusions, and she did not have a clue as to how she was going to get out of it.

Her world was dissolving, and there was no escape.

But at that instant, one thing was certain—Ava was no longer a pawn in someone else's game. She would strike back. She would locate the child. And she would discover the truth.

But as the ballroom doors slammed shut behind her, Ava knew that she was already too late. She suddenly fainted, and everything around her turned black.

The child was missing. And with that, the final remnant of her previous life.