Serena’s breath caught in her throat as she stared wide-eyed at Owen, her hand instinctively reaching for the scarf he had yanked away, holding onto it tightly as if it were the only thing keeping her sane... "What are you talking about?" she whispered, her voice trembling.
"How—why... How could we have planned all of this? You were my lover? Why didn’t you tell me the last time we met? Where were you?"
Owen’s anger and jealousy was almost doused in a moment as he watched her shocked expression and felt a feeling of guily overcome him. Hurriedly, he held her hand and gently took her to the bed, urging her to sit.
"Come here," he said, his voice now tender as he helped her settle. She sat numbly, staring at him as he knelt on the floor before her, resting his hands on her knees as if to steady her. He looked up into her eyes, pleading for her to understand.
"I thought those people would keep you safe, Rena. I never would have, in my wildest imagination thought that they would do something like that for money! I..."
"Let me tell you everything from the beginning. Rena, I know it’s hard to believe, but we eloped. We ran away because your family... they didn’t approve. I wasn’t good enough for them. Too poor, too insignificant."
Serena blinked rapidly, the world around her blurring as she tried to piece together his revelations. Her voice barely above a whisper, she managed, "Ran away? We... we were going to get married?"
Owen nodded, his hands squeezing her knees gently as if anchoring her to the present and continued, "Yes. We were chased by them. Your family was furious, they didn’t want you to marry me, so we ran. You... you belonged to a powerful family so we had no choice. And we came here, intending to make this place our home. But then the Thompsons stepped in. They invited us to Vancity and promised to play mediators with your family. But who would’ve thought it was all a trap..."
"Tha accident... it was a planned attack from your family. I never knew it! They wanted to have me killed. But when I survived... Anyway... at first I thought I’d lost you. I almost broke. But later you were still not dead and there was hope so I decided to work hard so that you would return. So, I left Vancity to earn money for us... for our future. I thought you were in safe hands. They demanded I pay them every month for your care, and I did. I thought they were taking care of you while I worked and prayed every day for you to wake up."
Serena’s breathing grew shallow as she tried to process everything Owen had told her. The weight of it all pressed down on her, suffocating. Her legs trembled as she stood up abruptly, the scarf slipping from her grip and falling to the floor.
"I... I need to go," she said, her voice wavering as she took a step back, her hands shaking. "This... it’s too much. I don’t know what to think. I need time—"
But before she could take another step, Owen rose quickly and gently grabbed her arm, pulling her into a tight embrace. "Serena, please," he whispered against her hair, his voice raw with emotion. "Please, don’t go. I can’t—"
She stiffened in his arms, her heart pounding. She didn’t want to hear more. She couldn’t. But Owen held her firmly, almost sure that if she felt his arms around her, she would have her memories return miraculously.
"I was crushed, Rena. Crushed when I found out you woke up... and chose to marry someone else." His voice cracked, his hands tightening slightly around her. "I thought all those months of praying, hoping... they meant nothing. I wasn’t there when you needed me. I failed you. You moved on, and I—I thought it was over. I thought I had lost you forever."
"It is why I didn’t tell you anything when we first met. But then, you met me so easily and talked so casually, I knew then something was not adding up. And then I found out. I found out you had lost your memories. That you didn’t remember anything about us, about what we shared. It was like fate had given me another chance. I thought... maybe, just maybe, I could stay close to you, even if it meant being your friend."
"But I realized today, that I couldn’t do it." He touched her neck then and she flinched, trying to step back. " Seeing his mark on you.. it made me go crazy! I realized that I am not as kindhearted as I thought. I want to erase that mark from you! I want you to remember everything and come back to me instead of.. being with some other man! I know, Rena. I know you don’t remember. And I don’t blame you. But I can’t just let you go, not again. Not without trying."
Owen’s hands slid from her arms to her face, as he cupped her cheeks, forcing her to look at him. "Rena..." he whispered.
Slowly, he started to lean down, holding her gaze as he cupped her neck, his intent clear while Serena stayed frozen. "Come back to me, Rena. Be mine again. Please."
As his lips hovered close to her, Rena’s mind still continued to struggle with processing everything. At the top was guilt as she read the pain and struggle in this man’s voice. She’d been searching desperately for her past but now that it stood right in front of her... all she could think was run away.
Their lips almost touched as she felt his breath against her and her heartbeat restlessly...
She placed her hand on her lips before he could touch her, causing his lips to graze the back of her hand. "Serena..." She heard his voice as if coming from a distance and knew that she needed to get out of here.. So she ran... without looking back, simply ran from there.