Suddenly, he stopped, and asked me to look up.
"Emma, this is it. Please look up and look in my eyes." He whispered. I collected all my courage and looked in his eyes, which were now red, anger and hurt dancing in them.
He pointed at a beautiful green pergola, and I could see a candlelit table setting right in the center of it, and behind the table stood a man with his back towards us.
The moment I saw him, I knew in my soul who he was, my heart dropped to my stomach. He was here.
My vision was blurred with overwhelming tears, I had imagined this day a million times before, and when it finally came, I couldn't believe myself. It felt unreal.
"Mark? Is that.... Is that him?" I stuttered, my throat lost its cords, and I felt I couldn't breathe again.
"Yes Emma. It's him." He whispered.
I froze at my spot, and I scanned every inch of his back. I didn't even realise, but my cheeks were now wet. I couldn't believe it was actually him.
"Jake?"
"I am sorry I didn't tell you sooner, Emma. He approached me a week before, and even though I badly wanted to shun him away, I just couldn't." Mark said in a trembling voice; I could see the intensity in his eyes, tears were now welling up.1
Mark was hurting because of this. It was not hidden anymore, he loved me and yet helped Jake come back to see me.
"Mark!? I can't believe you did this. What about all the things you said to me yesterday?"
"Nothing matters more than your happiness Emma. Even if the reason behind it, may not be me. I will respect your decision, no matter what."
"Mark, I don't know what to say..."
"Say nothing. Just Go. He has been waiting since morning."
With that, Mark walked away. I turned around towards the arbor, and that's when I saw him. He was facing me now. He stood there with his piercing blue eyes, his hands both in the front pocket of his jeans.
There he was, standing right in front of me, so near, yet so far.
Chapter 49
His dilemma
Jake
Joffre Lake Hike
It had been almost three long months, and I just couldn't bear the pain anymore. To say I was suffering would be an understated joke on how I had been enduring destiny's ferocious punishment for my heedless mistakes. I bought it all on myself, as I decided to walk away from her.
I backed away from the only source of happiness in my life, and even if I got to turn back time, I might just do it again, because, in that moment, she was better off without me.
I could condone a forever miserable existence if I was assured that no harm would ever reach my Emma. Due to my irrational and indignant actions, I got myself slapped with a lawsuit of attempted homicide for attacking Ben Murial in his home; my father's death case got re-opened; my only family, my mother, became one of the prime suspects in a third-degree crime, and the cut-edge media scrutiny just lifted the scandalous rank of the whole situation.
We were chased and pressured to inhuman extents, and even if Richmond Corp stood tall in this outrageous breakthrough, it wasn't enough to shield us from this hard-hitting storm.
I had to keep her out of this; else her life would have become a living hell. I would have lost my sanity if Emma had to face any sort of emotional, mental or reputational abuse in the hands of the twisted system. She didn't deserve to suffer the repercussions of the stigmatic outcomes arising from my family's uncanny wrongdoings, which in the first place, she had nothing to do with.
Amidst all this, the only thing that could bring me relief was the possibility of having Emma walk out of this exasperating situation, strain-free.
I ghosted on her for weeks and then disappeared like a coward to protect her from being in the limelight. Augustin and I pulled several strings to ensure Emma didn't become a part of any ongoing investigation. She didn't deserve the harassment that came with the territory.
It took a lot from me to resolve the hell that was let loose after that toxic revelation, and finally, as the dust settled a bit, the feeling of emptiness in my soul began to dominate my days.
My therapy and counselling sessions failed to heal my wounded heart, and the regret that resided as the most irreplaceable part of my anatomy won every single time.
Yes, I pushed her away.
Yes, I made her go through hell.
Yes, I broke her heart, again; and,
Yes, I didn't deserve her.
But what other choice did I have?
At last, I reached out to Mark; I had a strong intuition that he would be in touch with her. I tried to stop myself. I really did. I spent two restless nights, couldn't sleep a wink for two says straight, but still couldn't contain the volcano of emotions building inside me.
Not anymore.
Curiosity took the better of me, and finally, I called him to know about her.
I think this was rather the bigger mistake I did because after I heard from him about the pain Emma had been enduring, my wounded heart got completely broken.
Mark was mad at me too, he addressed me by my first name, snatching away the respect he held for me as his boss. I deserved every bit of his wrath, and I silently engulfed it, accepting that this was just the tip of the iceberg.
I always knew he had feelings for her, and perhaps he was the better man standing in her life at the moment. The rage in his words and the fury in his voice reflected the sufferings
