Everyone fell silent when I entered the Stavrakos building. One could hear a pin drops on the floor at its solemnity. The front guards looked shock when I strode through the main door. The receptionists and staff in the lobby stared at me with questioning eyes, doubting if I was really their boss.

I was gone and came back hardly unrecognizable.

I looked out of place when I stepped inside the building, with my overlong hair and beard, worn out cargo khaki pants, gray shirt that used to be white, and a climbing boots with traces of mud around the soles edges.

I had my black backpack with me I carried everywhere. Inside were the essential things I needed to survive in the past two months.

I climbed Mount Everest. I joined the expedition with a sole purpose in mind. To get over Elena when I reached the peak of the mountain.

Yeah, I reached the peak of the mountain after eight weeks. And if I moved on?

I shook my head and chuckled bitterly at myself.

The struggle to move on was difficult. I felt like I was carrying a ton of weight in my heart. There was this hollow feeling of being thrown inside a pit of darkness, and there was no way out.

It was hard. Much harder than my first heartbreak. But I had to come back and act strong on this.

I entered my private elevator and headed to the penthouse. After two hours, I was back at my old self again. Wearing my usual businessman attire with a clean cut hairstyle and well-shaven face.

I had a meeting with the department heads, officers, company lawyers and managers, and they gave me feedback regarding the status of the Stavrakos holdings while I was away. Everything was doing well, Dad and our trusted team managed the company well in my absence.

"We have a scheduled board meeting at the end of this month, sir. Constantine Pallis could not attend anymore. He had a heart attack two months ago," one manager reported, and that surprised me. The old man looked healthy as a cow the last time I saw him.

Another manager continued, "His granddaughter properly represented Pallis' investments in our group of companies. I mean, your wife..."

My temper escalated abruptly that I raised a hand to stop him.

"I don't want to hear anything about her. One mention of her name, and you're all fired!"

All was suddenly silent. A mask of terror showed on their faces.

From then on, no one dared to mention Elena in front of me.

__

The past two weeks in the office, I was very busy. I drown myself at work, closing business deals and monitoring the construction of my ongoing business center project.

I stayed in the Penthouse. Going home at the Stavrakos Mansion just reminded me of Elena and everything we did together.

This ambivalent feelings I had for her was destructive. So as much as possible, I avoided anything that would remind me of her.

Friday night, I had dinner with my parents in their mansion, the place where I grew up.

"I'm glad you came," Mom said, after the chef presented the main dish, "I heard you're always working until midnight, and that's not healthy anymore."

"You should be happy that I'm working, and not getting drunk in the bar."

Dad coughed, then said, "he enjoys working, hon. Let him be."

"If that's your coping mechanism so be it," Mom shrugged her shoulders, "it's over two months already, and you still haven't..."

"Mom," I gave her a warning look.

I learned from her that one would recover from grief, loss or heartbreak in three weeks. It applied when I broke up with Trisha, but with Elena now, it did not work at all.

As days went by, my life became emptier. Living was not meaningful anymore. Everything I see turned black and white. No happiness... no laughter... no hope... darkness overwhelmed me. The feeling of being dead inside.

All the food on the table were my favorites. Wagyu steak, Garlic Lobster, Truffle Mushroom Pasta and others... but they all tasted so bland.

"I'm just concern about you, Adonis," Mom continued despite my warning, "you're putting too much pressure on yourself. Get out and meet your friends, have fun! You're always in the office working too hard."

"It's the only thing that keeps me going every day," I pushed my plate, done after forcing myself to eat.

"I know life's been hard for you nowadays. But have pity on yourself and your employees. They feared you. You became so hot-tempered, that you barked at everyone. How many employees did you fire in the last two weeks? Five? Six? My goodness, Adonis, get a grip of yourself."

I shook my head, heaving a long sigh, "I don't fire employees without a reason. They acted against the company's policy, that's why they're fired."

"Son, at least be considerate..."

Dad coughed again, making Mom's attention shifted to him. Thank goodness. He saved me from an awkward topic.

"Are you okay?" Mom asked Dad, her hand rubbing his back.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I think we need the dessert now."

Our topic shifted on business, about our current dealing and plans for next year. The topic about me and my struggle stopped.

"I have a favor to ask from you," Dad said.

"What is it?"

"You know we want to go to Maldives for our wedding anniversary, right?" Dad continued.

"Of course," I turned to mom, who was enjoying her avocado sorbet, "you can't stop talking about it these past few days."

"That's right," Mom agreed, "we can't leave because your dad has a speaking engagement this coming Thursday."

"That's too bad."

"Yeah, it is," Dad's lips twisted, "I wonder if you can talk on my behalf."

That made my forehead furrowed, "what's the topic?"

"Living Life to the fullest," Dad answered, and it made me chuckle bitterly.

Strange. When I was not myself and trapped in a room of darkness.

"I don't think I'm equipped to talk about that at the moment," I shook my head.

"I'll have my secretary make the speech for you. All you have to do is read it."

"Are you sure?" I asked, and he nodded, "this Thursday, right?" I checked my schedule on my phone, "I have a business meeting, but I can move it the following day. Okay, I'll do it, I'll attend the event."

"That's great! So, that's all settled then," Mom smiled brightly, her hand reaching to Dad's, "we can book our tickets tomorrow."

"Of course, honey," Dad took her hand and kissed her knuckles, "we'll do it first thing tomorrow."

My parents looked very excited. Every wedding anniversary is very meaningful to them to celebrate their undying love for each other. I could never say no and deprive them of their happiness to have an adventure together.

Yeah, my parents' love story made me idealistic. That one day, I would find a woman who would fill my life with love and happiness.

Unfortunately, I was not lucky in finding true love.

--

Thursday came, my parents left for Maldives while I went to attend the event as a speaker.

The venue was on the outskirt of New York City.

New York Cancer Society Rehabilitation Center.

It was the new center that Dad supported this year. Obviously the reason he got invited as the principal speaker.

It was a close event, attended by health professionals, staff and their in-house cancer patients.

The cancer patients moved me when I met them. They were smiling brightly, showing their happiness and warm welcome upon seeing me. They shook my hand, and some even hugged me.

Hope. That's what I saw in their eyes. How they value their lives, every day, every minute, and every second. They had the will to beat the disease in order to live longer.

Now, I grasped the importance of my speech. How every word I would utter bring meaning to them. Living Life to the Fullest. Because one would never know when his heart stops beating.

I stood in front of the stage, holding the paper that contained my speech. I folded it and put it inside my pocket.

My heart turned liquid upon seeing the patients.

I neglected my life lately, not living my life to the fullest because of extreme sadness. These patients left their loved ones, their jobs, their homes, and their activities in the city, to fight and survive the disease. The sacrifice they made was difficult.

Hope and will to survive my battle suddenly hit me.

I made the speech, speaking from my heart. Talking about my travel to Mount Everest and other adventures. I narrated a bit of my heartache, my recent struggles, but I refrained from getting too emotional, so as not to bring negativity to the patients. All they needed was positivity on how to live life to the fullest.

After my speech, I sat the front row of the audience. Beside me where the heads and board members of the institution.

The program was about to end, and the host gave tribute to those who beat cancer and were leaving the institution. They were called one by one onstage to receive some goodies.

I was half listening.

I felt like I was in my lowest point. I had never felt so empty as that moment. Seeing all the patients hanging on with their lives, opened my eyes to give importance to mine.

My thoughts drifted to what happened in my life the past months, but more on Elena.

Elena.

I'm done torturing myself too much, I could not deny it anymore. I miss her so badly. The pain of not being with her got unbearable every day.

I went back from Paris with a purpose to surprise her. I was missing her terribly that I could not concentrate on my business dealings. Not being with her in less than a day felt so heavy in the heart. Breathing was difficult, everything so dull, and the day was not complete without her.

I realized I love her.

I love her so much that I could not wait to tell her. I cut my business trip and went back to New York to surprise her.

I lost my trust in women, and in love, because of what Trisha did. But Elena opened my eyes. I learned to trust that she would be sincere, loyal and honest to me.

She made me believe in love again.

Then I saw her with Christian Firth. He was sitting too close to her, touching her face.

No man has a right to touch her. She's my wife!

The demon inside me unleashed. All I saw was darkness. It was happening again, the betrayal.

Pride forbid me from listening to her explanation. It made me so violent and irrational, making harsh decisions. Dammit, I even kicked her out of my house.

The thought of it made me feel ashamed of myself. Now I was full of regret for acting so explosive. Because of my pride, I lost her.

"Congratulations to our last graduate," everyone clapped with laughter, "Miss Celine Pallis!"

Celine Pallis? That's Elena's mom.

My attention brought back to the present.

I was stunned as I looked at the woman smiling brightly, as she went onstage, waving at everyone. She wore a scarf over her head. Her face was pale, and she had no makeup on.

What the hell. She's indeed Elena's mother! Their resemblance is striking.

She gave a brief speech thanking everyone for taking care of her in six months' time she was in the institution.

Isn't she supposed to be in England... Singapore... Dubai... wherever in the world to spend the Pallis fortune in shopping?

She bade goodbye, and the host repeated her name. Celine Pallis.

Constantine and Elena hid Celine's illness to everyone. I wonder why?

It made sense, why Elena was hesitant to talk about her mother. She evaded answering questions about her. She also did not want us to meet.

The event ended, and I was desperately looking for Celine. She was nowhere to be found. Every person I met, I asked, but they did not know where she was.

I went to the garden, waiting for nothing.

I suddenly felt frustrated about everything that happened in my life. I sat on a bench, when suddenly, someone sat beside me.

"Were you looking for me?" A feminine voice asked.

I turned and saw her, "Celine."

"Finally, we met, Adonis."

I was inside my car. I felt numb and stun after talking to Celine. With trembling fingers, I took my phone and pressed my executive secretary's number.

"William. Did you process the divorce papers?"

"Yes, I did. Congratulations, sir. The judge approved your filed divorce."

SHOCK. My phone fell on my lap.

"NOOOO!!!!" I shouted.

_____

Hey Dreamers! Hope you enjoyed the update.

This story is unedited, as well as my other free stories.

Yeah, there are some mistakes. I mess up with my grammar, I interchange he and she, his and her, wrong spelling and others. It's because, I write fast, and my fingers can't keep up with my brain, lol.

If you see any grammar mistakes, please understand, just leave a comment nicely at the side and I'll fix it as soon as I see it. Thank you :)

This is a FICTION story, for our entertainment. Please don't base it on actual facts or events.

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