Zachary's POV:

I love you.

I jerked up from my sleep and sat on the couch, rubbing my face with my hands. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead as I shuddered in place. Her voice, still fresh in my mind, won't allow me to sleep. Three months, eight days, and five hours have passed since she disappeared. She betrayed me. All those promises were just lies. Just plain lies. She promised me that she would always be there for me. Forever. And yet, she broke her promise and left me forever and ever. I inhaled deeply as I got up from my office couch and walked to the glass window.

The clock read half-past five in the morning. I looked back at my desk to find it all messy, a stack of important papers spilling from their files. A sigh escaped my mouth as I shoved my hands into my pants pockets and stared at the trees, which were black against the sky. It was dawn. The sun was about to rise, the birds already flying in search of their food. Traffic was sparse, and only a few people, who seemed to be jogging, were visible below my office building.

I had been working late into the night, wanting to finish all of my work, which had been neglected for three months.

As I turned around to go back to my desk, the world tilted before my eyes and I stumbled over my own two feet, feeling dizzy. All of a sudden, my head started aching, as if somebody was hammering on it. All of this was happening to me because of my lack of sleep. How would I sleep? How could I sleep when she betrayed me? Even though she betrayed me, she kept lingering in my mind, where I saw her every single time I closed my eyes. She appeared before me when I was sleeping, when I was thinking, when I was wandering here and there, when I was eating—just everywhere. She was with me even though she wasn't near me.

I still remembered when the cops pulled her body from the sunken car. I felt like killing myself. Why did I let her go?

It was all my fault.

She broke my heart, my soul, into pieces. My hands trembled when the cops told me to remove the shroud from her face. Her face had been ruined in the accident. I couldn't even work up the courage to look at her when the stupid cops declared her dead. Her father was screaming and fighting with the cops, yelling that his daughter couldn't leave him. Her mother was on the ground, senseless with grief, while the medical team assisted her. Her friend Kiara and her brother Jace were crying their eyes out. But me? I just stood there, my back to her body. She was wearing my shirt and my pants. It was undoubtedly her. But still, my heart screamed that it wasn't her, that I was the one who had died. It's not possible; she can't be...

Four people died that day. The driver of the truck that hit my Juliette's car, the taxi driver, a lady in a black car, and my Juli...

I still couldn't believe that she had left me. I thought that we were finally together, that we were finally going to start our new life together, but then this had to happen. I refused to believe that the body they found was Juliette's. Even though it was wearing my clothes, which she was wearing when she left me. Even though her hair, her height, everything matched Juliette's physique. Still, I refused to believe it was Juliette. But the way the others behaved after seeing that body convinced me.

But I didn't have the courage to face her death. I shut myself down, closed myself off from the world, and when the pain didn't fade away, I started drinking alcohol to the point that I would stumble and pass out. It was only because of Max, Kristian, and Willie that I was standing here once again, a mask on my face to hide every emotion and feeling away from the world. She had been the only one capable of breaking down my walls, and now, without her, all my happiness and joy were just gone.

"Why did you leave me?" I mumbled as I crouched down on the floor, holding my throbbing head. Earlier, I had taken sleeping pills to try to get some much-needed rest, but even those meds didn't work. She invaded my dreams, forcing me to wake up. But the pills still seemed to be affecting me. I felt dizzy and nauseous all of a sudden. Crawling back to the couch, I grabbed hold of a water bottle on the coffee table and splashed some water on my face.

Nothing is working...

Inhaling deeply and exhaling out, I leaned against the couch and closed my eyes for a few minutes. I didn't even notice when I fell asleep in my sitting position.

Excuse me?

Sir?

A sigh left my mouth when I felt something cold against my cheek.

Sir?

Is someone calling me?

But who?

Despite my desperate need to sleep, I tried to open my eyes, and when I did, I saw two black orbs looking down at me worriedly. A woman with raven black hair and a pale complexion gazed down at me, her hand on my cheek as she patted it softly, trying to wake me up.

"Are you alright? Should I call the doctor?" she asked. I furrowed my eyebrows when I realized her hand was still on my cheek. I grabbed her hand and removed it. As I shifted my position, trying to get up, my feet wobbled and I stumbled, but a pair of hands supported me, grabbing my arm and preventing me from landing on the floor. The same woman held my arm protectively, trying to help me stand, but my anger surged at being touched by another woman who was not my Juliette. I jerked myself out of her grasp and glared at her.

"I am fine," I gritted out, and she smiled, surrendering with her hands in the air.

"Why were you sleeping there? I mean, are you alrig—" I cut her off before she could finish.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" I asked as I took in her appearance.

She was wearing a purple blouse with a cream-colored pencil skirt and beige heels. Her dress was professional, and I saw new files on the desk, which I assumed were hers.

"Oh, I'm Cristina Dimir. I'm your personal assistant," she said, and I raised an eyebrow at her.

"I mean, I was Mr. Kristian's assistant, but now that you're back, I was reassigned by Ms. Cosmina to be your new PA," she said, which made me look down at my feet.

Indeed, Kristian had been invaluable in my absence. He took care of my as well as all his business when I was lost trying to find myself.

"Then where were you these past ten days?" I asked. I didn't remember seeing her around the office in the ten days since I had returned.

"Oh, I was on vacation," she said, smiling at me and showing me her dimples, which just reminded me of Juliette. My eyes remained fixated on her dimples until she cleared her throat, which brought me out of my state.

"Get me a cup of black coffee and Mr. Pachia's file," I said as I stood up, but the sudden change in elevation made me dizzy once again, and I held my head, groaning.

"Sir, are you al—" before she could reach out and touch me, I held up a finger, stopping her in her tracks.

"Do what I have asked you to do," I ordered in a strict commanding tone.

She blinked several times before she nodded, bobbing her head up and down as she turned around. She picked up her files as she walked out of the room, but not before glancing my way.

I sighed as I picked my suit jacket up off the couch and put it on, buttoning it up as I walked to the desk and looked at the clock. It was a quarter past nine in the morning. Judging by the time, I concluded that my employees must have already arrived at the office. I, too, should get back to work before Juliette invades my blank mind. Raking a hand through my hair, I tried to concentrate on my work, but I failed miserably. I couldn't forget Juliette just because I didn't want to remember her.

She was my life, my soul, my everything. I could still feel her presence beside me. She was as essential to me as breath.

I took my phone out and opened the gallery, clicking on her picture. A picture that I had taken out of the blue when our whole family was out for a picnic. I remembered joking with her that I was taking the picture because she told me to cherish happy memories with the family, but really, being with her was the thing that made me happiest. I pulled her to me and snapped a photo of her and me. She was looking at me while I looked at the camera. If I had known then that this picture would be the only picture I had of us together, I would never...

"Your coffee, sir," my train of thought was interrupted by none other than Ms. Dimir. She set the cup of coffee down on my desk and placed Mr. Pachia's file before me, all with a smile plastered on her face, which irked me.

How can she be so happy?

Am I the only one whose happiness has been stolen?

"Do you need anything else, sir?" she asked and I shook my head no. She nodded and turned around to leave but stopped when I called out for her, "Ms. Dimir." 

She turned around, smiling at me. "Yes, sir?" she asked as she clutched a file close to her chest. 

"Next time, don't forget to knock!" I said nonchalantly, pointing my finger towards the door.

She looked at the door and then at me. Her smile faded away as she nodded once again absentmindedly before walking out of my room.

"Everyone seems so happy, Juliette." I looked back at Juliette's picture on my phone as I talked to her.

"Everyone except me," I finished. My eyes stung as tears streaked down my cheeks uncontrollably. I kissed her picture before putting the phone aside. I wiped my face with my handkerchief, lifted up the hot cup of coffee to drink, but I couldn't to a single sip. My appetite was long lost. Nothing seemed to extinguish the fire in my burning soul, nor did anything soothe the pain of being left alone to deal with the world without Juliette.

"My only wish is for you to come back to me, my Juliette." Tears continued streaming down my face as I thought about her, again and again, cursing myself for letting her go alone that day.