Emma's POV

"But what can possibly go wrong? We'd worked so hard on that. Everything was perfect." Caty says, taking a sip of her coffee. I feel extremely bad for my staff members. I can't tell them that I had dropped their cake and then remade the entire thing. I am pretty sure that the second cake which I made with Jon wasn't good enough, because of which we got a poor rating. If that incident hadn't happened, then the first cake would've got a rating of 5 stars. Oh lord I can't believe it. This is all because of me. I might've messed up while remaking the cake. I am not upset because we got a low rating, I'm upset because I've let my staff down, even though they don't know what had happened.

"What do you think Emma?" Caty asks me putting her hand over mine.

"I don't know." I mumble taking another bite of my fifth cupcake.

I should really stop stress eating.

"Oh come on! You have nothing to say? How can you just brush this off?"

"What else can I do Caty? It's not like I have it in me to change the rating." I snap. Caty was taken aback but nods her head either way.

"I'm really sorry, I'm just not in my right mind." I say holding her hand. She gives me a polite smile and nods. I feel really really bad.

"There is something I want to tell you." I say looking down at our hands.

"Yeah?"

"The cake we made, I had.........accidentally dropped it while putting it into the freezer." I say closing my eyes and lowering my head.

"I'm so sorry Caty." I apologize as a tear slips down my face.

"Ohh honey come here." She says taking me into a hug. I put my head on her shoulder and wrap my arms around her waist. She strokes my hair, whispering comforting words.

"It's alright, Emmy. I already know." She says. I jerk my head back and look at her with wide eyes.

"Huh?"

"We have a camera here dummy. And I'm the only one who operates it, so your little secret is safe with me." She says, whispering the last part. Of course we had a camera here! I was so stressed all this time that I forgot about the cameras. Caty hardly checks it, why would she check it out at this time?

"But you don't normally......"

"Check the cameras? Yes. I don't. But the cake you delivered to the wedding looked slightly different. So I grew suspicious and checked out the camera." She says with a smile. I gasp at this.

"Does this mean that the others also noticed the slight variation in the new cake?" I ask.

"Nah. They don't have the brains for that." She says laughing.

"That's rude." I mumble.

"It was so sweet of Jon to help you out. Gosh I nearly cried watching you guys bust your asses on that cake. You guys look so cute together." She says wiping her fake tears.

"Right?" I say smiling to myself.

We do look cute together!

****

"See you later Emma!" Caty says as we part ways. Since the business was slow today, we had decided to close the bakery early. I didn't want to bother Jon because he already has a lot of work piling up. So I decided to walk myself home today. But on my way, Caty's words kept playing in my mind.

It was so sweet of Jon to help you out. Gosh I nearly cried watching you guys bust your asses on that cake

I didn't even Thank Jon properly for helping me out. I guess I should surprise him with some delicious dinner. I am sure he'll like it.

I text him whilst heading towards his apartment. After a few minutes my phone beeps with Jon's reply.

♥️

I text him back. We had exchanged the spare keys of our apartments for emergencies. We've never used them because we'd always enter the apartments together. But since tonight is a surprise, the spare key has become handy. I enter into the apartment and place my coat and handbag on the couch. Nothing has really changed since the last time I left. I head towards the kitchen and check the items available there. Since he doesn't cook much, there isn't a lot in his kitchen cabinets. But with what is remaining, I can only make mac and cheese. I can also make some side dishes like creamed spinach and roasted dijon potatoes. It's only 8:30 PM now and I'm pretty sure he won't be here for an other few hours.

I play some Latin pop music as I melt the butter in a saucepan. I move swiftly across the kitchen swaying to the music whilst cooking. Once I'm done with the mac and cheese, I move to the dijon potatoes and creamed spinach. I cook the spinach in boiling salt water for 30 seconds whilst I begin with the roasted potatoes too. I'm already exhausted so I just want to get over with this as soon as possible. When I was done with the entire dinner, it was 10:54 PM. Jon should be here any minute. I decided to tidy up the place so that he doesn't have to enter into a messy apartment. As I was tidying up his place, I saw a box which was placed on the couch. How did I not see that before? It was a normal box, the same size as that of a shoe box. But it looked a little more fancier than a shoe box. I knew it was wrong to pry, but the curiosity was killing me.

I'll just take a quick peek, a tiny one.

With that thought, I took the box and opened it, placing the lid on the coffee table. Inside of it were photos, many of it. It seemed to be family photos. There's a boy in every single one of it. He looked very familiar, I took a closer look and that's when it hit me!

This boy is Jon.

But whose family is this? As much I know........Jon never had one. Then who were they? And why was Jon treasuring these pictures? This looked like one happy family. Some photos were of them having a picnic in the park, while others were of their fishing trips, barbecue parties, birthdays and so on. Jon looks so happy in these. What happened then? Why did he lie to me about not having a family? As I was about to move to an other photo, someone roughly grabs me by my hand and shoved me against their chest, the box falling from my hand in the process.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING EMMA?" Jon asks me, his eyes filled with rage I've never seen. Jon left my hand and went around me to collect the fallen pictures. He hastily put them in the box and placed it on the coffee table.

"What do you think you're Emma? Is this some sort of joke? I gave you those keys for emergencies. NOT TO SNOOP AROUND IN MY HOUSE." He says as his voice raises with each word.

"I'm sorry Jon I was just-"

"Oh yes here comes the sorry! You do all

the shit in the world and expect to clean it up with a 'sorry'?" He asks looking at me with hurtful and furious eyes.

"No I-"

"When will you stop being so fucking overbearing Emma? You got to respect people's privacy! Have you ever heard of that word? You can't expect me to remain calm when you GO THROUGH MY STUFFS." My eyes were filling up with tears and I tried my best to not let them spill. But those tears were huge traitors as they were rolling down my cheeks.

"I didn't know that you'd get so mad." I whisper.

"Oh yes you didn't know that. Just because I was putting up with all of your shit, you thought that you could invade my personal space. What the fuck are you doing here anyways? Didn't you tell me that you were going to bed? Is this how you're planning to go to bed? Why can't you just mind your own fucking business!" He yells at the top of his lungs. At this point, I had completely lost it. I've never had anyone yell at me this loud and rude. I knew that Jon always had a very bad temper, but I never thought that I'd be the victim of it. Unable to handle anymore of it, I grab my coat and handbag and storm out of his apartment. A part of me wished that he'd follow me and stop me from going out by myself this late at night, but he never came for me. I was walking down the street, silently crying. My whole body was feeling heavy and it was getting hot. I saw a 24/7 store in the end of the street and quickly headed towards it. Since it was late in the night, there weren't many people in the store. I randomly started walking to divert my mind from what just happened. I wanted to leave only when I've calmed down, because right now, I'm hysteric. The previous events at Jon's apartment kept replaying in my head over and over again. Am I really overbearing? I shouldn't have even gone to his place. I go into the cleaning supplies' aisle, which was on the other end of the store, and sit on the floor, pulling my knees close to my chest. I lean my head back against the wall when a loud gunshot breaks the silence.

"NOBODY MOVE FROM THEIR PLACE UNLESS YOU WANT THIS GUN SHOVED RIGHT UP YOUR ASS!" A man with a gruff voice says.

"Go check for other people in the store, and you old man, open the cash counter and fill up this baby with all the cash." The man commands. I can hear hurried steps approaching towards me. There was a washroom beside the stand in which the cleaning supplies were put. If I go all the way to the washroom, those men might see me. But something was better than nothing and with that thought I sprinted towards the washroom.

"Hey there's a girl running away." An other man points out whilst running towards me, but I enter the washroom and quickly lock it before he could catch me. I call 911 with shaking fingers and place the phone on my ear.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"Please help us! Some robbers have got into the store and are holding the people at gunpoint." I whisper out whilst crying. I hear them banging on the door loudly, which startled me and I dropped my phone out of shock.

"Come on babygirl. You don't wanna mess with us honey. Be a good girl and come out." One of the burglars say in a sickly sweet tone. Suddenly, I heard a gunshot which broke the door lock, and the men entered the washroom with a nasty grin on their faces. There were two men in front of me, one with a gun, while the other with a metal rod. I knew this is how I am going to die. They'll either torture me till my last breath, or if they are generous enough, they'll end me by shooting my head off, smooth and quick. These were going to be my last moments, before they end my life. And all I could think of was Jon. I closed my eyes and imagined, what it would've been to lead a life with Jon by my side. What it would've been, to carry his children, his flesh and blood. What it would've been to have a family with him. What it would've been...........to grow old with him. I abruptly open my eyes and see the men walking in slow, predatory steps towards me. No! I can't give up so easily. I want to live, I want to be with Jon, I want to show him how much I love him. He's all I have got. I close my eyes again, and scream at the top of my lungs. I bend over whilst running, to dodge those men and get out of the washroom. I had partially succeeded, and reached the door, but before I could touch the door handle, I felt a strong hit on the back of my head, my ears were ringing, my vision was filled with black dots and I could feel a warm liquid oozing out, at the back of my head. I collapse on the floor, in the pool of my own blood, but in the midst of all this, all I could think about, was Jon.

I love you Jon...............