Dylan sat in his office, forcing himself to do all the paperwork his secretary had scheduled for him to do that day. He had hardly been able to concentrate on his work or anything else and his mind was a complete mess.
He groaned and ran his hands down his face, trying to massage the stress lines that had developed on his forehead in the past few days.
"Fucking hell," he sighed and glared at his cell phone as it vibrated across from him on the mahogany tabletop, messing up his already fucked concentration.
He reached for the device and accepted the call without looking at the caller before raising the device to his ear. "Who's this?" He did not have time for pleasantries.
"Mr. Miller?" A voice spoke through his phone speakers. He recognized the voice but couldn't tell whose it was. "Who is this?" He asked again in a tired voice.
"It's Doctor Micage. I'm calling to find out why you and Ms. Taylor have not returned for the appointment she arranged," the doctor said.
Dylan realized that it was his family doctor speaking so his voice became much more civil.
"What appointment?" He asked, leaning back in his seat with a stressed frown. The mental exhaustion he had been feeling in the past days had been weighing down on him and it was getting worse.
"She insisted on getting registered for antenatal care with you, but she hasn't come back since the day she left the hospital. I want to be sure that things are alright with her and the pregnancy," the doctor said and Dylan's hand froze mid-movement.
What was he talking about? What in the world was he going on about? Agitation began to build up in Dylan's mind and he thought he would lose it. "What are you talking about?"
He asked with a sense of urgency in his tone.
"What... Do you mean? She didn't tell you?" The doctor hesitated as he asked. "Have I by any chance ruined a surprise?" He seemed to be asking himself that question.
Dylan's world began to shatter around him and he stared blankly at the door several feet across from him. He chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, clenching the phone in his other hand.
"No, you haven't. We will see you soon," he told the doctor in a voice he forced not to be shaky, acting like everything was okay. Maybe if he acted that way long enough, things would actually get better.
Everything would go back to how it was a week before.
"Are you--" Dylan cut the doctor off and hung up. He bit his bottom lip, staring out into space with shock and disbelief, feeling heavy regret and strong self-hatred.
He regretted being so easily deceived by Ava. He regretted throwing his wife of three years away because of a woman he barely even knew. He hated himself for doing the horrible things he did to the woman he loved the most in the world.
He had to find her. He had to tell her how sorry he was, how much he regretted the things he did, how much he loved and missed her, and how much he hated himself for the things he had done.
He switched on the desktop computer that was sitting in front of him. He still had a lot of work to do, but his mind was threatening to break with everything going on. He finally decided to take a break and try to contact Taylor.
He knew his actions were unforgivable. He did not even know how he would bring himself to ask for forgiveness. A notification popped up on his phone just before he was about to contact her. Something about it piqued his interest.
Clicking on it took him to a blog on the internet, where he saw the event. "MARK'S FIANCÉE FINALLY REVEALED" was the heading. He recognized Mark's face. An old friend, who he hated with every cell in his body.
The picture in the article showed Mark with a woman who he paraded as his fiancée. Dylan's jaw dropped as he realized that the woman was his ex-wife, Taylor.
He was both angry and confused. He fumed for minutes, then it all started to make sense.
Mark was nothing close to what he made people believe he was. To the public, he was a good-willed philanthropic rich guy, but Dylan had been close to him long enough to know that all these were lies.
His wealth had multiplied over the years, through the shady businesses he controlled under the shadows. But by keeping a false reputation, he was able to make sure no one would ever know to suspect him. It was when Dylan discovered this, that he slowly began to cut ties with him.
Dylan could see through Mark's schemes. He had somehow been informed about his divorce and seized the opportunity to get close to his wife. But he could not understand the possible motive behind this. To spite him? If that was the plan, it was definitely working.
He thought about the last time Mark had done something like this. It was with his sister.
While they were still friends, his sister had been engaged to Mark. But then, shortly after she gave birth, she mysteriously disappeared.
He did not understand why Mark would have a hand in his sister's disappearance but he knew what Mark was capable of, he had known about his active involvement in drug and human trafficking deals. Dylan was almost sure Mark did have a hand in it.
It happened a long time ago.
Now, he was worried for Taylor, and his unborn child. He was worried about the awful things that Mark could be planning. He decided to contact Taylor to somehow convince her to stay away from Mark.
He tried to reach her, but she seemed to have blocked him everywhere.
This hurt him even more. He was confused as to what to do next. He painfully regretted his actions, searching his mind for ways to make things right.
He desperately wished there was a way to turn things back to the way they were a few days ago. He buried his head in the pile of unfinished work, completely drained of any will to live.