The next day morning when she first opened her eyes, still half asleep, she could barely remember anything. Slowly the previous night came back to her. She opened her eyes. Turned to the other side of the bed and found exactly what her brain predicted. It was empty. She turned to the opposite side. She thought of the day she first met Nolan. He was in the club bar, fresh from the humiliation on national television by David. She merely knew him then. But there was something so kind and convincing about his eyes. Something that told her she need to cheer him up. She smiled inside her with the memory. Turned to Nolan's side of the bed. Ran her fingers through that. She already knew what to expect once she sees him. But was she brave enough to accept that?

Nolan's clothes were already wet with the sweat. Any passerby could tell from his exhausted face that he has been pushing himself so hard. Yet Nolan didn't want to stop. The tension inside him was driving him. Slowly his vision started to faint. In a bright morning, all he could see was dark patches. But he still couldn't stop. Finally, his vision went all dark. He stumbled on to a stone and fell on the street. 'Ouch!' screamed Nolan. He panted heavily. Slowly his vision came back. He pulled himself together and stood up.

'Is this running or running away?' Louise's came from behind. Nolan turned around to see her. Louise could see the exhaustion in his face. He kept panting.

'So the night is that heavy on you now?' asked Louise.

'Louise…' Nolan tried hard to put his words together. 'Listen, last night… last night was…I was…' Nolan tried to speak while avoiding eye contact with her. But Louise cut him short.

'Why Nolan? Why would you do that?' Louise said with choked voice.

Nolan knew it was useless to think of something good to say at this moment. The best he could do is to be honest with her. He finally made eye contact with her. 'I didn't want to lose you. I didn't want to be all alone again.' He was honest. Louise could see that in his eyes.

'But you are alone Nolan. I'm done. I'm done with Hamptons, I'm done with you.'

'Louise!' Nolan came forward saying this. He held her arms with his hands. The touch sent current through her body. 'Please don't say that.' Nolan said looking at her with earnest eyes. There was something so lovable in those moist eyes of him. But she cannot do it anymore. She cannot let Nolan make her weak once again.

'Goodbye Nolan!' she said firmly. 'And don't try to find me. And if you do, I'll harm myself.' She used her right hand to remove Nolan's grasp on her left arm and left.

Nolan stood there, unable to say something. He let Louise go and followed her with his eyes till she was out of sight. Despair grew in him. He threw his fist on the nearby tree with all his strength. Blood came out his palm instantly. He looked at his bleeding palm and stood still. He thought of the day when David punched his face. He thought how Emily took care of that bleeding with her gentle hands, ashamed and worried eyes. Memories from last night with Emily came back to him. They were so close to kissing each other. He felt so helpless. He wanted to talk to her. He took out his phone, but he remembered her last message. The thought of how she left him just like that made him angry again. He threw his fist onto the tree again. 'Damn it!' Heavy amount of blood started rolling down his hand.

3 months later…

Amanda looked at Carl through the glass window. The doctor was checking him. Jack was also standing at one corner of the doctor's cabin. Amanda could see him too through the window. The doctor talked to Jack after checking up Carl. Amanda spotted the relief in Jack's face. He came out of the clinic with Carl and joined her.

'You look relieved.' Said Amanda.

'Doctor said there's nothing to worry anymore. Carl is fit now. Finally, he has beat the Pneumonia after this two months of fight.' Said a happy Jack.

Amanda took Carl in her arms and caressed him. 'He's a fighter.' She kissed his forehead. 'Isn't it?' She asked Carl. Carl nodded his head in reply and kept playing with the toy in hand.

'Let's go home.' Jack told them. Amanda's smile vanished with it.

'Jack, we need to talk.'

'Yeah, say.'

'Ah, not now. I mean not in front of Carl.'

'What is it?' Jack said curiously.

Amanda handed over Carl to the nanny and asked her to take Carl to the car. The nanny did the same. Amanda turned to Jack. 'I don't want to go home.'

'Oh, I get it.' He smiled. 'It's been a hell of two months. We both deserve a hangout.' Amanda's expression went blank, but Jack didn't notice. 'You're right. We should go on a date. And then I was thinking we should do it today. You know. We haven't had sex ever since we came back from Hamptons.'

'Jack. I cannot have sex.' Jack's face went clueless with this.

'Amanda?'

'I don't want to go home.'

'What are you saying?'

'I'm sorry Jack. I cannot do it anymore.'

'Are you talking about our marriage?' Jack asked looking at her eyes. Amanda broke the eye contact and nodded.

'I'm sorry Jack. I tried. But I couldn't love you.' Jack felt shocked with her words.

'Tried? What are you talking Amanda? We love each other. Yes, we have had our share of arguments. But we still do. And we've since we were kids.'

'That's the problem, Jack. I loved you when I was a kid. And ever since everything was taken away from me, the only thing that I could hold onto was the idea of our love. I needed to believe in something good to remain alive Jack. And I believed in us. Even during my revenge days, with all those bad things around, this is the only positive thing I believed. But those days are gone now, Jack. Now I'm just a normal girl with a heart and preferences. I tried Jack. But I can't. This is not the life I want. You're not the person I want. I loved you when I was a kid. But we're grown up. And I think we've grown apart.'

Jack stood there, still, unable to utter a single word. Amanda couldn't love him. But he has always loved her. It was tough for him to move or talk right now.

'Goodbye, Jack.' Amanda said and turned to leave. Finally, Jack opened his mouth.

'You cannot do this. What shall I say to Carl?'

'I'll always be Carl's mother. But I cannot be your wife Jack.' She said and left.

Nolan was about to go out of the house when he saw a visibly flabby Louise coming in. All these three months, he has called her so many times. But she never picked up. And now all of a sudden she was there at his door. At first, he thought it was a hallucination which were common to Nolan these days. He keeps hallucinating Amanda all day in his house, kitchen, office, bed. But Louise? He misses her but never hallucinates her that way. He looked at her again. As she approached him the difference between imagination and reality became clear. It was Louise in front of him, for real.

'Louise?' Nolan screamed with joy.

She stood there biting her lips with her teeth, saying nothing in reply. Nolan approached her. He cupped her face with his both hands and looked at her. 'I missed you' Nolan said with earnest eyes. A Little smile flashed in the corner of Louise's lips.

'Can I come in?' She asked.

Nolan nodded his head in amazement. 'Of course!' She went in. He followed her inside.

She looked around. 'Everything is pretty much same here.'

'It is.' Nolan smiled. He took her hands in his. 'Thank you for coming back. I was scared I'm never gonna see you again.'

'I had to Nolan. There's something I cannot do alone.' Nolan looked at her with curious eyes. 'I'm pregnant Nolan.'

A sudden realization hit Nolan. Of course, she is pregnant. That's why she looked fuller. He turned his face to see the number of luggage her driver brought in for her. No one needs brings so many luggage for a few days of stay. Nolan understood what she was thinking. A nervous Nolan looked at her and asked 'Do you want to raise it with me?'

She gave an affirmative nod in reply. Nolan was afraid. But part of him was relieved to have his friend back. And the idea of Louise trusting him again with such a life changing thing even after every bad thing he did to her was overwhelming. Yes, he did not want a family with Louise. But solitude and guilt were already killing him. He let the overwhelmed part of his heart precede his fear and wishes. 'This house is going to need renovation. You know I'll turn the east bloc of the house into a kid's heaven.' Nolan said with a big smile on his face. 'And the pool is also going to need a toddler's section. I can do that too….'

'Nolan?' Louise cut him short. 'You didn't even ask if it is yours.'

Nolan smiled. 'Doesn't matter. What matters is you want me to be its father. Well, sort of.'

Louise looked at him with astonishment. How can Nolan be so kind to her all the time? 'Of course, it's your Nolan. I haven't been with anyone else for long.' She smiled.

The sudden realization of being a real father was strange. The sense of responsibility hit him. He couldn't say anything more. He took Louise in his arm, caresses her hair and kissed her head. She was definitely not the woman he wanted to have his family with. But he was getting a family anyway. He hid his tears from Louise.

'Are you sure you want to have this kid Nolan? You told Jack you didn't want to have a kid with me.'

Hiding his face from her, he wiped his tears. 'Let the bygones be gone. I'll be a good father. I promise.'

They looked at each other and smiled.

Nolan switched on the news. The Same story was on all day. 'The fairy tale love story of Nolan Ross and Louise Ellis never stops to amaze. And just when the world thinks they have finally set their roads apart, they come back with a bang. And this time, it is with the Ross Jr. on its way…' the reporter went on. Nolan turned the TV mute. Pictures of him and Louise together kept appearing on screen. He observed them silently. Voice inside his head was already telling him that it was a bad idea to have the kid. But he can't back out now. He has already promised Louise. But this was about his whole fucking life. 'Do I really need to do this?' he kept asking himself. He looked at the screen again. It flashed 'Is another Ellis-Ross marriage in the horizon?' Nolan felt like something is choking his throat. He could barely breathe with those letters flashing in front of him. He closed his eyes.

His phone ring startled him. He opened his eyes, tried to relax his breathe. He reached out for the phone. The caller name sent another chill down his spine. It was Amanda. 3 months after leaving him like that, finally, she remembered to call. Part of him didn't want to take it. But he took it anyway.

'Hey!' he tried to sound as normal as he could manage. But there was no voice from the other end. He could hear her breathe, though. 'Amanda?' he said again.

She had so many things to say to him. Things like she loved him, she left Jack for him. But hearing his voice after this long, all she could manage was to breathe and soak in the moment. Finally after a few moments, she talked. 'Nolan.'

Her long pause made him worry. 'You all right?'

'Yes, I'm fine. Better than ever.'

'That's good. So is this a congratulatory call?'

'Congratulations? On what? Another high profile company take-over?'

Her answer made Nolan confused. How come she doesn't know yet? It is all over the news. 'Ah, not really. It's personal. Haven't you watched the news?'

'News? What news? Wait.' She turned on the TV. And in a moment everything inside her went blank. 'Nolan?'

'Yeah, it's true. For about three months. Roughly the time you left.' Nolan fought hard to keep his tone normal.

Amanda kept staring at the news. Tears rolled down her eyes. 'Is it your Nolan?'

'Of course, it is.'

Amanda took deep breaths to stop the sobbing. 'Congrats!' She spoke fighting her tears. 'Where's Louise?'

'In her room. You want to talk to her?'

'No. Good-bye, Nolan.' She cut abruptly. She buried her head in her hand and continued sobbing.

A/N: This update took longer than expected because writing this pained me. Expect Patrick Osbourne to show up in the next chapter. Please read and review. Follow/Fav if you like it. Those really helps. Keep your eyes in this tab since many more exciting things are yet to come.

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