As Xiana Evans laid her eyes upon the flat screen in her family beach house, she was struck with instant regret. For there, staring back at her, was a man with eyes as hypnotic as the deepest emerald and hair a dark shade of honey. She could feel his gaze piercing through her very soul, leaving her with an unshakable feeling of unease.

Her hand trembled as the remote threatened to slip from her grasp.

Silas Anderson! Her fists tightened on her side as she uttered his name, oblivious to her own words. For six long years, she kept his name locked away in the depths of her heart, never daring to utter it aloud. But now, in a sudden burst of emotion, she broke her silence and spoke his name with a forceful intensity that shook the very air around her.

Her body convulsed as the familiar, searing agony of years past surged through her with a vengeance. Her heart raced as she fought to suppress the tempest raging within her, all the while gazing intently at the visage of the man she used to adore, beaming from the colossal screen before her.

With her legs trembling and threatening to collapse beneath her, she forcefully plopped down onto the couch, her gaze fixated unwaveringly on the screen before her. As if frozen in time, six long years had elapsed, yet the agony of their separation still lingered within her heart like an open wound.

Her heart pounded furiously, as if it had been racing for an eternity. She despised herself for succumbing to such overwhelming emotions.

Silas Alexander Anderson was coming home.

The softly spoken words echoed through Xiana's mind with deafening clarity. As the news anchor's words permeated her ears, a sudden terror gripped her heart. Her mind raced with a single, horrifying thought: he was staying in the country, and it was for good. The rest of the news report faded into a blur. She could think of nothing except the terrifying idea that her ex-lover would return. The news shook her. It turned her peaceful world upside down.

The anticipation of their next encounter is palpable. What will be her reaction when they cross paths once more? Her heart raced, and her palms grew clammy at the mere notion of encountering him.

“Curse you, Silas Anderson!” With a voice barely above a whisper, she spoke, her once-beautiful face twisted into a grotesque expression of fury. “I hate you! You should have never returned here. "You should have stayed in Europe for the rest of your life!” Her eyes welled up with tears, threatening to spill over at any moment. Her gaze fixated on the ceiling as she battled against the overwhelming urge to unleash a torrent of tears.

Her mind fought to suppress the hideous memories, but they flooded her consciousness like a relentless movie reel.

Silas Anderson broke her heart. He did not merely break it, but he did shatter it to dust! Even now, she is still picking up the fragments and making them whole once more.

Abandoned and alone, she found herself on the brink of despair, with no one to turn to in her darkest hour. He, who had promised to be her rock, had callously left her stranded at the lowest point of her life, when she needed him the most. The cruelest blow of all was his abandonment of her just as she was six weeks pregnant. Little did he know, she had been carrying his child all along.

Her emotions had reached a boiling point, and she could no longer contain them. Tears cascaded down her face in an unrelenting torrent. She seldom sheds a tear. But at the mere thought of her child, her composure shattered into a million pieces.

It was on the cold night of December when she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, only to have her precious cherub snatched away by fate's cruel hand. Her time with her daughter was abruptly cut short as she was taken away within mere minutes. With all their might, the nurse and the doctor fought for her life, but they couldn’t bring back something that was never meant to be hers.

Xiana’s heart was heavy with guilt as she relentlessly blamed herself for the loss of her precious baby girl, until this very moment.

Her poor little angel, perhaps she would still be alive if she’d taken good care of herself.

“Silas Anderson, heir to the Anderson chain of colossal businesses, will marry his girlfriend of two years.”

As her eyes darted back to the TV screen, a sudden surge of emotion overtook her. Her once pained expression transformed into a fierce scowl, brimming with an intense, seething hatred towards the man on the screen. With a trembling hand, she desperately tried to wipe away the tears cascading down her cheeks.

With a fierce determination burning in her eyes, Xiana swore to herself that she would go to great lengths to steer clear of Silas Anderson.

Her heart raced as she realized the gravity of the situation. The weight of her past failures bore down on her like a ton of bricks. She knew that she couldn't afford to repeat the same mistakes again. The stakes were too high, and the consequences were too dire. She took a deep breath and steeled herself for the challenge ahead.

***

As the scorching afternoon sun blazed fiercely beneath the exquisite blue sky, Xiana emerged from the family-owned beach house. The billowing floral dress caressed her legs as she strode towards the nearby coffee shop to rendezvous with her new client.

The euphonious echoes of laughter and the tranquilizing caress of waves passionately embracing the shore elevate her soul. Her heart swelled with joy as she gazed upon the delightful scene of children constructing magnificent sandcastles and frolicking on the soft, golden grains of the beach.

Xiana entered the coffee shop, and the cold air brushing her skin made her sigh. She was happy to temporarily escape the intense afternoon heat. The empty seat near the window was empty, and she decided to sit there. It overlooked the beach, and from where she was seated, she could see the silvery ocean sparkling magnificently under the sun.

“Cappuccino please.” She turned to the waiter. It was an odd order considering it was scorching hot outside, but she just wanted to have her daily dose of caffeine to satisfy her weird craving.

Finally, her order arrived. She thanked the server and went on to enjoy the serenely sweet moment while waiting for Hailey Smith, her client, to arrive.

She was halfway through finishing her cup when a man sat down on the chair opposite her without asking for permission. Eyebrows scrunched into a frown, she lifted her gaze to the man to tell him the seat was taken, but her protests didn't make it out of her mouth as she found herself staring into a pair of familiar, hypnotic green eyes.

No! She made an inward scream, praying she was just dreaming. But it was clear as day that she was wide awake.

“Did you miss me?” Silas Anderson spoke in an icy-cold tone.