Author's Note

Here is the long awaited Chapter 14. :) Enjoy!

Nolan.

As Nolan paced around the waiting room, all he could think about was Emily. He hoped more than anything that she was okay, but nevertheless, he couldn't help imagining the worst. He felt like whatever had happened, was partly his fault. It was his job to protect her, and to make sure that she was okay. How could be so careless? He glanced at the room Emily was in...through the glass windows, he could see doctors and nurses crowded around the room. They had been in there for about four hours, and Nolan was getting restless. He had to see if she was okay. If anything had happened to her, he wouldn't be able to bear it, and on top of that, he had made a promise to her father to take care of her.

"You must be Nolan Ross." A figure said, approaching him.

Nolan, who was lost in his thoughts, looked up, and a relief swept over him.

"How is she doctor?" he asked.

"Well, you shouldn't worry too much. There are a lot of minor injuries, she has cuts, and bruises everywhere due to the shards of glass that were actually embedded in her skin. Also, she experienced a lot of blood loss, because of a head injury. We bandaged her forehead, so retain the blood, but we recommend that she stays here for a few days. We're running many tests, and we are still waiting for results. "

"This head injury...is it serious?"

"We don't think so, but nothing can be confirmed yet...we'll have to wait and see."

"Can I go in and see her?" Nolan said, after a long pause.

"Of course...but I have to ask, are you sure you're telling me everything that happened? This is serious."

"Yes, like I said...she fell down the stairs, and hit a glass window." Nolan said nonchalantly.

"If you say so," the doctor said, as he walked away.

A part of him knew that lying to the doctor wasn't a wise move, but he knew that Emily wanted to keep a low profile on her visit to the Hamptons. If he had told the doctor what really happened, it would just catch unwanted attention.

As Nolan carefully walked into the room, he saw the terrible state of his best friend.

"Hey Ems." Nolan whispered.

"Nolan, you look awful..." she said smiling, trying to lighten up the tense atmosphere.

"You're one to talk." Nolan replied sarcastically.

"What time is it anyway?"

"It's around four in the morning. But, Ems...what happened? I mean, who happened?"

"Honestly, I don't know. After my meeting with Conrad, I came straight home. Then I thought I'd do some long overdue work that I had received regarding the Clarke Corporation, exhausted, I went in the kitchen to get some water. Just as I was leaving, all the lights went out, and it was dark outside too so I couldn't see much. At first I thought it was just a power outage, but not long after that, I heard a gunshot. Almost instantly, the window's all shattered...I hid tried to hide under the kitchen counters for protection, but it was all a blur to me. The next thing I know, I'm here..." she slowly explained.

"I know it's not the best time, but do you have any idea as to who it was?"

"No...but they have one hell of an aim. If I had to guess though, I'd say it was Conrad." She replied cringing.

"Possibly...how did you're meeting with him go anyway?"

"I told him that I'd promote Grayson Global...if he left Aiden out of this mess."

"What happened to selling the company to him?" Nolan asked.

"He said that it wouldn't do him any good because of his reputation."

"I was hoping he wouldn't notice that."

"Nolan, what am I doing? I feel like everything is falling apart on me. This was supposed to be my chance of walking away, I never should have come back." She said, with a tear in her eye.

"Emily, this was going to happen regardless of whether you visited the Hamptons, he knew what you were up to in Paris."

"Why is it, that I can never find any peace? I gave up getting revenge on them; because hating the Grayson's was consuming me...it was turning me into the person that my dad never wanted me to become. But there's still a part of me that feels empty, something keeps on calling me back here Nolan."

"I know this may not be what you want to hear, but maybe you can't let go of this place because of a certain someone...not because you still yearn revenge."

"I'm already with-"

"-Aiden, I know. But maybe if you could just forget that for a second, it wouldn't cloud your judgement."

"I thought you hated him with a passion."

Nolan did hate Daniel. There was nothing honorable about him, he had cheated on Emily with Ashley. But right now, Nolan had to think strategically. In order to save Aiden, Emily was risking her own life and Nolan could not let that happen. He had promised Emily's father that he would protect her, and the he had to start being serious about it. If she was with Daniel, Conrad wouldn't have anyone to threaten. He wouldn't harm his own son, and even so, his threats would be harmless. Also, Emily would be protected since Conrad knew that if anything happened to her, Daniel would no longer be on his side. That way, all of these problems could be avoided, and no harm would come to Emily.

"Emily, there's something else that I have to tell you, about Daniel."

"What is it?" Emily asked seriously.

"He didn't cheat on you...I mean, not completely."

"Nolan, what the hell are you talking about?"

"When you two were broken up for a while, you know how he and Ashley dated for a while right?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"Well, the reason he broke up with you was because he didn't want to hurt you."

"You aren't making any sense."

"Ashley told Daniel that she was pregnant, and she forced him end things with you."

There was a long pause. Emily felt like she had been stabbed a million times in the heart, and she couldn't believe what Nolan had said. Daniel had chosen Ashley over her...and now she knew why. Without realizing, she had noticed hot tears running down her eyes. All this time, as much as she had claimed to hate Daniel, a part of her still had hoped that they could go back to the way things were. But this...this shattered the small light of hope that she had.

"But...Ems, that's not it. She lied, she's not really pregnant."

"Nolan, a person doesn't just lie about that kind of stuff." Emily said, in the middle of tears.

"Ashley did. Trust me, this was part of her plan to get back together with Daniel. She knew that it would break you two apart, which is exactly what happened."

Emily looked at Nolan, trying to figure out what to believe, was it really true? Had she emotionally blackmailed Daniel into breaking up with her?

"How could you possibly know all of this?"

"Because...after you left, ever since I saw those two at the cafe, I became suspicious. Something major must have happened for you and Daniel to break up in the matter of seconds. So a few months after you had left the Hamptons, I did some research. It wasn't too long after, that I found out that her pregnancy was a ruse. I mean, fake appointments and checkups with the doctor, fake proofs of ultrasound, fake baby bump...she was just paying someone to provide her that stuff."

"And you kept all of this from me?" Emily asked, feeling betrayed.

"It was in your best interest..." Nolan said, feeling guilty.

He knew that telling her his would make her hate him, but Nolan had to protect Emily. And the only way he could do that was to give her incentive to get back together with Daniel.

"Just leave." Emily said coldly.

Emily

Emily couldn't believe Nolan. He had broken her trust, and he had lied to her. All this time, she had thought that the breakup was her fault. She had held on to that guilt for so long that it had almost destroyed her. She had suffered sleepless days and night because of it. How could he do that to her? On top of that, in all of this, Nolan was supposed to be the one person that she could confide in. All of a sudden, she became weary of him. Who knew what else he was keeping secret from her? And suddenly, she felt alone again. She really couldn't trust anyone but herself, and from now on, she promised that she wouldn't. She was in this mess alone, and somewhere along the line, she had been fooled into the misconception that having company was good.

Ashley

"Victoria...I have been trusting you for too long, are you going to tell me what we're going to do about the baby or not?" Ashley asked, frustrated.

"Daniel has an international business trip coming up soon, and when he leaves, you will pretend to go into labour...of course, as much as he would want to be there with you, he wouldn't be able to...if he's halfway around the world..."

"Wow, that's quite...impressive? But, what are we going to do after?"

"From there, once you come back, you'll be in tears...claiming that it was a miscarriage..."

"You're joking right? That's low...even for you. That was your genius plan all along?"

"You were the one that wanted to get back together with my son. Did you honestly think it would be that easy?" Victoria prompted,

"But, wouldn't he just leave me then?" Ashley said sneering.

"You underestimate my son, when you're in such a state of distress and confusion, leaving you alone will be the last thing on his mind. Plus, you were there when he was a mess...he knows that he has to return the favor somehow. That way, you two can bond with your equal stories of pain and suffering..."

"What about Emily? Isn't she going to come running to Daniel when she finds out?"

"She won't be much of a problem." Victoria said coyly.

"How can you be so sure?"

"I just have a feeling."

Ashley didn't know what to do. I mean, this was what she had wanted all along, but she hadn't realized how far she had gone regarding Daniel. It seemed that her entire life was a cruel joke. She knew that Daniel didn't even remotely return the feelings that she had for him, so what was she going to do now? She truly wanted something with Daniel, but she knew that this was emotionally forcing him to do so, she was cornering him so he had no choice. This wasn't her...

Daniel.

Daniel was confused. He didn't know what to make of the situation he was in. He thought that the obvious answer would be to say no to Ashley's proposal, but the more he thought about it, the more he wondered whether it was a good idea or not. Then, like usual, his thoughts wandered off to Emily. What was with her? She had behaved so coldly towards him at the office. It hurt him more that he would admit. It broke his heart. All he wanted to do was to see her smile again, but ever since she had left the Hamptons, there was something dark about her, she had changed. But Daniel felt responsible. Not only had he ruined his own life by breaking up with her, but he had also ruined hers as well. He wanted to see that carefree and joyous Emily again.

Daniel needed to find some peace. He decided to watch the sunset on the beach, near Emily's house. It reminded him of the serene and peaceful life that he had with Emily. He felt the warm sand under his feet and looked out into the horizon. He could see the sun peeking out from below the water. Daniel thought back to how Emily would always wake up early and go for a swim. A part of him hoped that she would be here today...but to his disappointment, she wasn't. Why was it, that she was always on his mind? He could never forget her, no matter how much he tried. She still had so much power over him. And even though she was here in the Hamptons, he still couldn't believe it...if only time could freeze, he thought. He never wanted her to leave...as he glanced at her house, he noticed something odd. He couldn't figure out what it was, but something wasn't right. As he walked closer Daniel noticed that the windows were all shattered, and the door had been broken down...Daniel panicked and ran inside the house...

"Emily?" he called out time and time again, hoping to get an answer. As he looked on the floor, there was a huge pool of blood...and looking at it, Daniel felt uneasy...he quickly dialed Emily's cell phone, only to hear it ring beside him. Where was she? Was she in danger...? Was she okay? Just then, breaking the heavy silence, he heard something shatter. Someone was in this house...

"Ems...is that you?" he called out in desperation.

Suddenly, a figure emerged from the stairs. They were wearing a black hood, and they were also pointing a gun towards Daniel. Once Daniel realized who it was, he froze in disbelief.

Author's Note

I am SO sorry for the long wait to this chapter. I just basically had writer's block. Recently, I decided to just write something, since it had been forever since I last updated. Sorry again, and I will be a bit busy due to school and whatnot, so my updates may not be that frequent, but stick around. :)

And of course, thank you for the support! I love reading the reviews, and it honestly just made me more motivated to continue this story. Thanks a billion, and please keep on reviewing. I really appreciate it.