The CEO’s Second Choice

Elena

It’s as clear as day. We were nearing the villa, just turning the bend with nothing around us but the forest. I put my cell phone back in my handbag after texting Isaac and something to the left caught my attention. I screamed for Simon to move out of the way and luckily he heard me, but it wasn’t enough. When the other car hit us, I saw him. Francis, one of our drivers.

The anger bristles from Sebastian as I tell him the story. “Are you certain, Elena?” He asks, and I nod. “The scar, I remember the scar.” Francis’ scar has always unnerved me; it started at his temple and snaked all the way down to his throat. Sebastian takes his cell phone out. “We have a lead. Get down to the hospital room as soon as you’re able to.” Then he kills the call. He sits down and cups my cheek in his hand. “My Elena, finally you’ve returned to me,” he says as a solitary tear falls down his cheek. “I have missed you so much, Elena. These past few weeks without you have been Hell in itself.” He says, planting a kiss on my forehead and I feel it travel all the way down to my toes. I smile at him and look down at my battered body; I guess it will force me to take time off now. I’m sure Isaac will be happy about that.

“Isaac! Oh my gosh, he must be beside himself with worry!” I exclaim, thinking about my best friend, and Sebastian nods with a wry smile. “He’s been in here every single day, even if there was no news.” I smile at this. Of course, he would be in and out of here every day, Isaac was like my twin. Speaking of which. “Eliana? Where is she?” I ask, but then I see Sebastian’s expression change. He could never lie to me, even a little white lies and I could see him contemplating on whether or not to tell me the truth.

He sighs. “Eliana hasn’t been in to visit even though she knew about your accident, Elena. She hasn’t called either.” For some reason, I knew this already. I actually haven’t heard from my sister since we left Paris. Even my baby news was met with an icy response. When they came down for the funeral, I only saw her in church. After that, they left for France again. I wonder what I did to earn my sister’s ire.

“I’m sorry, love. But you deserve to know the rest as well. Elijah and I have been doing a bit of our own investigation, and have concluded that Eliana and Robert were behind my parents’ deaths. Your parents are both missing and presumed dead as well. But with this news that you remember who drove into you, Elijah and I might be closer than we anticipated.” Sebastian suddenly says, plunging my heart into an even darker cavern.

I have never been close to my parents, but the fact that they might be dead hits me harder than I expected. “Why would they do this?” I ask with a shake to my voice. I don’t understand it. Was Eliana still bitter over being the one to carry the Wiltshire torch? She got out of duty. So what was the point of this? “I wish I knew, love. Let’s see what Elijah and I can learn from Francis, and we will take it from there. For now, I think I need to call the doctor to come and have a look at you.” He says with a kiss on my cheek before strolling out.

A few minutes later I am put under the microscope by the doctor as he asks me questions about how I’m feeling, pain levels and so forth. He has an MRI scheduled for later on as well, just to be on the safe side. When we were done, he gave me the all-clear and told me to take it easy, and as soon as the MRI results were in, we could leave! It will only be tomorrow, but still!

“Can you give me your phone quickly?” I ask Sebastian, needing to see someone important, and he does so. Even Though I just had amnesia, I recall the cell phone number off the top of my head and press to video call. A few minutes later, Isaac answers the phone, as gloriously flamboyant as ever.Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

“Sebby, to what do I owe-” he answers, then stops himself when he sees me. “Elena?”

“Hey, tart. Guess who’s back?” I say and I swear I just popped an eardrum by the way he was screaming. “Say no more, I will be right over!” He says and kills the call. I giggle and hand Sebastian his phone back, noting the smile forming on his face as well. “He truly loves you,” he says, pocketing the phone and I nod because I felt the same way. He felt more like family than my own.

A knock comes at the door and a blonde head pops in. “Elijah!” I call, happy to see him, and he rushes over to me, taking me in his arms and squeezing gently. “Elena, we have all missed your light.” He says and kisses my hair. I looked at Sebastian but caught no jealousy or mistrust coming from him; he must truly trust Elijah.

“What is this I hear of a new lead?” he asks Sebastiaan when he lets go of me. Sebastian crossed his arms over his chest. “Elena remembers who drove into her Phantom. It was one of my drivers, Francis. Better yet, he’s at my villa right now.” Sebastian says with a clenched jaw, and I notice Elijah’s tightening as well. How did I get on better with men than with women? I have three of them in my life who would much rather take a bullet for me than see harm come my way. I truly am blessed.

“Let’s go,” Elijah says, not waiting for Sebastian, but my husband walks towards me and kisses me gently. “We need to sort this out, love. Will you be fine for a while?” he asks and I nod. I could use the quiet. “I love yo-”

“ELENA!” The door bursts open and a flash of red rushes in, enveloping me. I feel Isaac’s sobs wreck his body and look up at Sebastian, who smiles and points to the door before leaving. “Silly tart,” I say and stroke my best friend’s hair as he continues to cry. Did he truly miss me that much? “You have… you have no idea how lonely I have been without you!” he cries, causing tears to well up in my eyes and fall down my cheeks. We hold one another for a little while before he lets go and removes tissue from his bag and hands some to me as well. Then he looks into my eyes. “I thought I would never see your clear blue eyes again. You were awake for three days, but not fully… you weren’t our Elena. But now… now you’re here and you’re okay and…” he trails off as his face crumbles up again and he wipes his tears away.

My poor Isaac!

“Have you met your lil boy yet?” He asks, bouncing off the walls and I giggle. “Who do you think snapped me back into reality? As soon as I set my eyes on my little Aaron, it all came back to me.” I say proudly, recalling how I felt at that moment.. The complete love overwhelmed me to such an extent that I managed to retrieve my memories. It felt like a movie sequence to be completely honest. Isaac’s eyes glisten. “Aaron? How perfect!” he exclaimed with a hand on his chest, then he seemed to sober up and square his shoulders.

He then fills me in on what has been happening while I was comatose. “Did Sebastian tell you that the lil bitch Anabelle admitted to swapping out your birth control with placebos?! Apparently, she thought Sebastian would make you drop out. She did not expect the barrage of followers you would gain afterwards.”

“So all of it was because she was jealous of me?” I ask, shaking my head as I remember the emptiness I felt after finding out she tried to kill me. He nods, “And how. To the point of trying to murder you. According to little miss Anabelle, you stole everything from her, including Nicholas and by the way, she’s not lesbian SURPRISE. Not.” Isaac finishes with disgust and sits down on the chair Sebastian usually occupies. He flashed me a wistful smile, and for some reason, he reminded me of my mother.

I shake the thought from my head and ask him what else had been happening. At least that could take my mind off the darkness I feel growing inside my heart.