Lost in the Pause

It didn't take long for Eloise's grandmother to agree to Eloise's request.

Everyone in Corhaven believed that the then-lost heiress of the Jensen family had lived like an orphan with no one to rely on during the years she was separated from her biological family. But no one knew that Eloise had been raised by her adoptive grandmother, Marie Carter, a top cognitive neuroscientist.

Marie's kind and gentle voice sounded on the other line. "I support whatever decision you make, little one. Love isn't all there is in life, and you don't have to hold on to everything you encounter in this world. If you're unhappy in this relationship, just forget it."

The resentment Eloise had bottled up over recent years burst at the sound of Marie's voice. Her days since reuniting with her biological parents had been nothing short of exhausting.

"I've saved up plenty of money for you. Once we've erased your love for Jonathan and you've moved on from him, we'll travel around the world together," Marie promised.

Marie ran a company that possessed the world's most advanced neurotechnology. The technology worked to erase one's love for another without interfering with one's memories. One only had to provide a picture of the person they wanted to stop loving for the procedure.

The technology was the result of brilliant and noble research. It helped heartbroken women move on from relationships they tried but failed to forget about, and encouraged them to pull themselves together.

Eloise pulled up her phone's photo gallery, and the first picture that popped up was one of her and Jonathan. In the picture, Jonathan was holding her close, and they had their backs to the sea, their smiles dazzling as they faced the sun.

However, upon closer inspection, Eloise was visibly uneasy in the picture.

It was taken on the day she was misdiagnosed with late-stage liver cancer. At the time, she truly believed she was dying, and she'd hidden under the blanket and cried her heart out.

After that, she researched many dating spots and dragged Jonathan along to each one, hoping to make happy memories for him with whatever little time she had left.

But what had Jonathan made of her diagnosis? Had he felt sorry for her that she didn't have much longer to live, or had he been thrilled that his precious Sonia would finally be saved?

Eloise was spacing out when a weight suddenly pinned her shoulder down. She instinctively glanced over, only for someone to peck her firmly on the cheek.

Jonathan swiftly put on his jacket and said, "Something urgent came up at the company. I have to go take care of it. Let the butler know if you need anything, and don't stay up late."

In the dim light of the bedroom, Eloise watched as Jonathan left, her heart growing colder by the second. It was his birthday today, but he didn't even ask her for a present.

Shortly after, Eloise saw Sonia's post on Instagram, captioned, "I'm glad to have you by my side in my darkest days."

The post was accompanied by a picture of Jonathan's side profile. He was crouched on the floor, entirely focused on fixing Sonia's childhood toy. So, this was the "urgent matter" he'd mentioned earlier.

Not wanting to leave any room for backtracking, Eloise forwarded several pictures of Jonathan to Marie, then deleted his pictures from her phone.

She dragged her tired body out of bed and began packing up her stuff. Since Jonathan regained his former success, they'd moved into the villa and lived together. She had plenty of belongings to show for it, too, and sorting them out was a strenuous undertaking.

But she'd made up her mind to end things with Jonathan for good, so she had to purge every trace of their life together. "Pack these up and throw them out!"

Eloise did not want to keep anything from their relationship, but when she saw the square, red, velvet box, her heart tightened uncontrollably. In that box lay the ring she'd painstakingly prepared for her proposal.

The next second, she tossed that box into the fireplace while the household staff watched. The flames surged and licked away at every part of that box, burning the love she had for Jonathan into ashes.

Night had turned into day by the time Eloise sorted out her belongings, but Jonathan had yet to come home. It was clear he had spent the night at Sonia's.

Eloise pulled her suitcase behind her as she made to leave the villa, but she had only just stepped out of the front door when she ran into Sonia.

Sonia stood on the other side of the street, beaming as she waved. She began to cross the street, but a car suddenly zipped down the street at a maniacal speed and hurtled toward her.

Eloise stepped back instinctively but fell when she lost her footing, scratching her palm. Blood streamed from the cut, and the car sped away.

Across the street, Sonia had been knocked unconscious.

Jonathan frantically ran over and scooped Sonia into his arms. "Don't be scared, Sonia. I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you!"

He did not glance at Eloise even once.