Chapter 2

I had tried to suppress it all, the humiliating memories, the public ridicule, the absolute shattering of my existence. I had built new walls, brick by brick, around the broken pieces of my past. But some memories, especially the ones soaked in betrayal and pain, they didn' t just fade away. They burrowed deep, leaving indelible scars that throbbed with every reminder. These memories, these traumas, they didn't just live in my mind; they were etched into my very being, a constant, unwanted companion.

The bus lurched, pulling me from the suffocating grip of that flashback. The red light at the intersection had just turned green. I sighed, a long, weary exhalation that felt like it carried the weight of years. I was just a passenger on a bus, a ghost in my own life. I looked up, then, and saw the driver looking at me in the rearview mirror. I just offered a small, apologetic smile.

I had to keep going. That was my mantra. Always keep moving forward, even when every fiber of your being wanted to curl up and disappear.

I glanced at my phone again. The viral article, Giselle' s triumphant post, everything was gone. Scrubbed clean. It was as if it had never existed. But the phantom ache in my chest, that was real. No digital broom could sweep that away.

Just as I was about to tuck my phone away, it buzzed again. A text message. From an unknown number. My heart hammered, a frantic drum against my ribs.

"Hey, princess."

The words were innocent enough, but my blood ran cold. There was only one person, one single soul in this vast world, who had ever called me that. And it certainly wasn't my parents anymore.

Joshua.

My thumb hovered over the screen, a battle raging within me. Should I reply? Should I block it? My mind raced, flashing through years of pain, years of silence. He had abandoned me, thrown me to the wolves, then committed me to an asylum. What right did he have to resurface now, to disturb the fragile peace I' d painstakingly constructed?

I clenched my jaw. No. Absolutely not.

With a definitive swipe, I deleted the message. It was too late. Far too late. His "hey" meant nothing to me now. My well-being, my struggles, my triumphs-they were no longer his concern. My life was my own, unburdened by his presence.

The bus continued its journey, each revolution of the wheels propelling me further away from the ghost of my past. I had too much to focus on, too much to protect. My future, my son. They were my anchors, my reason for enduring.

But sometimes, when the world grew quiet, when the bus hummed its lullaby, the memories would creep back in, unbidden and relentless.

Before all this, before the kidnapping, the betrayal, the institution, my life had been a glittering tapestry spun from old money and privileged expectations. I was Haylee Velasquez, heiress to a New York real estate empire, a Juilliard-trained pianist whose fingers danced across the keys with effortless grace. At 23, my world was a symphony of lavish parties, bespoke gowns, and whispered invitations to exclusive galas.

I was my family' s darling, their prized possession. Every whim was catered to, every desire fulfilled. My engagement to Joshua Cunningham, the brilliant tech wunderkind whose startup flourished under my family' s generous funding, was seen as the perfect union of old wealth and new innovation. The tabloids called us "New York's Golden Couple," destined for a life of boundless success and happiness. "Born lucky," was the common refrain. "Everything just falls into her lap."

Then came the fall.

It was just days before our wedding, the grandest social event of the year. I was abducted. Ripped from my gilded cage, thrown into the brutal reality of a cartel' s dark world. They demanded a ransom: fifty million dollars. A king's ransom, yes, but for my family, a mere drop in the ocean. For Joshua, it was pocket change. I knew they would pay. They had to. My family loved me. Joshua loved me. I believed it with every fiber of my being.

In the beginning, the captors were almost polite. They kept me fed, reasonably clean, and unharmed. They were waiting for the money, just like I was. I clung to the hope that any day, any hour, the door would open, and I would be free.

Then came the seventh day. The change was abrupt, chilling. The politeness evaporated, replaced by a cold, menacing brutality. A rough hand slammed against my face, sending stars exploding behind my eyes.

"Why isn't the money here?" a harsh voice snarled. "Your rich family, your fancy fiancé-are they not interested in you?"

My head snapped up, my jaw aching. Interested? Of course they were interested. They had to be.

Then I saw it. A flickering television screen in the corner of the dingy room. Joshua. My Joshua. He was on a news channel, his face serious, charismatic. He was at a press conference, announcing a massive corporate acquisition, a game-changing deal for his company. The figure flashed across the screen: fifty million dollars.

My world tilted.