Chapter 5

• ARTEMY
• Regardless of the baby's lineage, whether mine or Raffaele's, its innocence remained undeniable, intricately woven into Rebecca's essence. My hand returned to her rounded belly, a surge of possessiveness mingling with my newfound determination.
• Rather than shying away from this sentiment, I embraced it, allowing anger to kindle within me. Raffaele's retribution wouldn't solely be for his transgressions against Rebecca but also for the harm he inflicted on this unborn child.
• Rebecca's movement in my arms drew my thoughts to a halt. Our gazes locked, a wordless connection established between us. We held each other's gaze, unyielding and profound.
• With gradual motion, Rebecca stirred within my grasp, eventually sitting upright. I mirrored her action, my attention fixed on her, awaiting her next move with bated breath.
• With measured steps, she traversed the space, her gaze focused on a distant corner. Her actions unfolded without a hint of expression, leaving me suspended in a state of baffled uncertainty.
• Tension coiled within me as I observed her kneeling before the wall. My forward movement halted, confusion gripping me. Rebecca's lifeless eyes finally met mine, and in that juncture, my world seemed to pause.
• Perhaps my heart ceased its rhythm, or my breath hung suspended—time itself appeared to falter.
• Gasping for air, a feeling of suffocation gripped me as I beheld the heart-wrenching sight of Rebecca, her form pressed against the wall, curling inwards upon herself. The weight of realization crashed upon me, compelling me to tightly shut my eyes in a desperate attempt to block out the haunting image. Fists clenched at my sides, jaw set in a grinding determination.
• Within me, a tempest of emotions raged - a storm of fury, of anguish. The sight of Rebecca in this agonizing state was an assault on my very core, each shard of her pain piercing through me. She was my vulnerability, my Achilles' heel, yet I fought fiercely for her – a contradiction of strength and vulnerability intertwined.
• Eyes reopening, I found her as I had left her in that forsaken dungeon, trapped in the same posture for countless months. Her constant agony was etched into that pose.
• My fingers coiled into tight knots, and with a fortifying breath, I took a resolute step forward. The time had come for me to become her steadfast anchor.
• Standing before Rebecca, I knelt by her side, my palm tenderly grazing her cheek. Her eyes fluttered closed with a sigh, and remained so.
• On the unforgiving floor, I laid myself beside her, drawing her fragile form into my embrace. She settled partially atop me, and I held her as if my very existence depended on it.
• "I won't abandon you, Angel," my words, a mere whisper, resonated through the air. "No matter how angrily you struggle against me, I won't let go. I refuse to yield. Even if you've lost your memory of me, I'll rekindle that memory. This, I promise you, Angel."
• Though soft-spoken, these words carried the weight of my soul. A kiss graced her forehead as I sealed my oath, and then I surrendered to the embrace of slumber, our entwined forms finding rest against the unyielding wall and the unyielding floor.
• Such was the manner in which we succumbed to sleep's embrace – in each other's arms, against all odds.
• ***
• I awoke abruptly, my senses jolted into high alert. My heart raced like a frantic drumbeat, and my body was drenched in a clammy sweat. The remnants of nightmares persisted, haunting me even in my awakened state. I couldn't fathom their grip ever loosening; these memories had etched themselves indelibly into my mind.
• Yet, it wasn't solely the night terrors that had forcefully yanked me from my troubled slumber.
• No, it was the profound solitude that gripped me.
• The bed lay vacant beside me.
• With a surge of anxiety, I scanned the room urgently, but Rebecca's presence was conspicuously absent. She hardly ever left the room, if at all. Except when I carried her, she scarcely moved from the bed.
• Without a second thought, I bolted from the bed and hastened to the bathroom, my heart constricting with mounting panic when I discovered it empty. The heaviness in my chest intensified as I hurried out of the room.
• "Rebecca?" I called out, my voice resonating through the corridors. My feet carried me to the room with the piano, where I hesitated outside the door. Reluctant hope began to surge within me, though I fought against its pull as I drew nearer.
• I closed my eyes momentarily, my hand trembling as I turned the knob. When I opened my eyes, I was met with darkness.
• But my Angel wasn't there.
• Fear surged through me, a wave of dread that shook my very core. A raspy sound of anguish erupted from my throat. "Rebecca?" I screamed, thundering down the stairs.
• Frustration and alarm converged, my fingers digging into my scalp. My screams reverberated, a desperate attempt to bridge the distance.
• "REBECCA!"
• The staircase became a scene of motion as Brayden and Avim rushed down, joined by Nona and the maids emerging from the kitchen. Some of my men surged through the doors, their faces etched with alarm.
• "Artemy?" Brayden's voice held a note of inquiry as he approached my side.
• "Rebecca is gone," I confessed, my voice quivering.
• His eyes widened in disbelief. "What? How?"
• "I don't know!" Frustration propelled me to pinch the bridge of my nose as I paced anxiously. "We were asleep. She was with me. I have no idea how she could have left without my knowledge."
• Avim exchanged a quick glance with the other men, prompting a flurry of movement as they dispersed throughout the house. The maids followed suit, all searching for any trace of Rebecca.
• "Did you check the piano room?" Nona's question pierced the air.
• "Yes," I retorted, my patience fraying at the edges. "That was my first destination."
• "Where could she have gone?" Brayden mused aloud.
• That question, precisely, was what gnawed at me. Rebecca's fragile state of mind left her adrift. Though a week had passed since her rescue, she remained as lost as the first day.
• The only glimmers of change manifested in small increments, like her starting to eat just the day before, after days of coaxing. I had even convinced her to abandon the floor as her chosen sleeping place. Yet, these minute shifts held no significance if they failed to revive her from her lifeless state.
• I moved through the expanse of our home, the dryness of my throat contrasting with the weightiness in my body. My steps were laden with tension as I combed the space, driven by an urgent need to find Rebecca. Muscles knotted, I paced restlessly.
• "Rebecca? Rebecca!" The words echoed through the house as I bounded down the staircase once again.
• Close behind me, Brayden's presence was palpable, his frustration manifesting in muttered curses. My fingers found solace at the nape of my neck, attempting to ease the knots that had formed there due to mounting anxiety.
• Rebecca remained elusive, her whereabouts an enigma. Where could she have disappeared to?
• If not in our quarters or the room that housed the piano, then—
• A jolt of astonishment coursed through me, nearly causing me to stagger. No.
• "Artemy?" Brayden's voice beckoned, but I couldn't spare attention. My singular focus compelled me out of the house.
• Could it even be possible? Despite my relentless efforts, Rebecca's memories remained steadfastly locked away, resisting all attempts at resuscitation. She seemed intent on evading her own emotions, as if embracing numbness were preferable.
• My run was guided by impulse, occasionally hindered by the treacherous ground strewn with fractured branches. My wound was in the process of healing, yet the strain of my exertion weakened my leg. A searing burn traveled its course, and I stumbled, cursing, finding support against a tree. The leg was an impediment, a frustrating liability.
• Suppressing the pain's prominence in my mind, I kept my thoughts tethered to Rebecca. Despite the burden of my injured leg, I limped onward.
• As the woods gradually gave way, revealing the enchanting expanse of a meadow, my heart quickened with a glimmer of hope. The sound of rushing water reached my ears, stirring a poignant memory of shared moments with Rebecca. I hadn't returned here since her cruel separation from me.