Loving A STRANGER

Ethan admitted this seemed like a dream. He had never thought he would fall in love, let alone marry. That, too, is his nephew"s ex-girlfriend. That all changed when his eyes first fell on Kylie Finch. She was simply exquisite, her body, her deep eyes, her soul. Everything about her was perfect, and before Ethan knew it, he was falling head over heels for Kylie Finch.

That certainly did not mean their marriage was a breeze. Oh no! Keeping their relationship a secret was the hardest thing to do, especially when Ethan considered Kylie the love of his life. He wanted to take her out to eat at restaurants, take her shopping, and go out to watch movies, but they could not do anything like that all because of that d.a.m.n Laurence Finch and his b.i.t.c.h of a daughter, Khloe.

Ethan stepped out of his office and walked towards the lobby. Everyone had gone by home by now except for his secretary, Bella, who was tidying up getting ready to leave. She was an annoying little thing, always offering Ethan this or that. He was not stupid; he could see how she threw herself at him, but Ethan could care less. He had thought of replacing her, but she was d.a.m.n good at her job, so Ethan continued to ignore her advances.

"Have a night," Ethan smiled at her.

"Good night Mr. Parker," Bella replied, perking up immediately. She bounced up to him, fixing her shirt. Ethan noticed how she pulled her shirt down, trying to expose her neckline, but his eyes stayed on her face.

"Um…so Mr. Parker. You have not eaten at all today. I was thinking…I mean, I haven"t eaten either, so I"m sure you must be hungry…?" she rambled on.

"Thanks, but I have to get home right away," Ethan replied sincerely and turned around. "Have a good night Bella."

Bella"s face immediately fell, but Ethan continued on walking. He was almost out the door when he heard Bella calling him again.

"Mr. Parker?"

Ethan sighed and rolled his eyes, "What is it Bella?"

"I almost forgot to tell you. Someone named Jules Finch kept on calling you. I told her to stop calling as you were busy. Don"t worry, Mr. Parker, and I blocked her number after. She sounded like one of those pesky reporters."

Ethan became immediately alert when Bella mentioned the name, Kylie Finch. He knew it had to be Kylie, but why was she calling his office?

"What did she say, Bella? Did she say why she was calling?" Ethan asked, trying to keep his panic at bay. It was alright, and he tried to rea.s.sure himself. Kylie probably forgot something; maybe that was why she called?

Bella hesitated when she saw that "Jules" was indeed someone that Ethan knew.

"Um…Mr. Parker? Do you know her? I…I thought that..."

Ethan cut her off, "Bella, what did she say?"

Bella looked down and shuffled her feet, "Um…she said it was an emergency and for you to call her back."

 "f.u.c.k!" Ethan swore and rushed out. Calling his driver, Ethan sat down in the back seat and took his cell phone. Of course! That was why Kylie was calling his phone. His phone was turned off! Ethan turned on his phone and noticed that indeed Kylie had sent him messages and had called him many times.

"s.h.i.t!" Ethan hurriedly called Elliot, and his housekeeper, and both did not pick up.

Ethan"s heart started pounding. Kylie was a pretty stable person, and Ethan knew she would not take the risk of calling his office if it was not extremely important. What could it be? What could be so important? Ethan prayed that everything was alright, and he was just overreacting.

***

The two hours seemed like two days for Ethan. Finally, the plane landed, and Ethan did not even bother calling Elliot to pick him up; that would take too long. Calling for a taxi, Ethan gave the address to the driver and told him to drive fast. When he reached home, Ethan noticed all the lights were off as if no one was home.

However, that theory went down the drain when Ethan noticed the front door was already unlocked. That"s weird he thought as he stepped inside.

"Kylie?" Ethan called out. His voice echoed in the seemingly empty house. Nothing seemed out of order, so Ethan ruled robbery out. Nonetheless, he grabbed his cellphone and baseball bat and crept upstairs while calling out for Kylie.

As Ethan walked upstairs, everything seemed normal; everything was as he had left it this morning. But there still remained the burning question in his mind: where was Kylie?

Ethan walked closer to his bedroom and tried opening the door and found it to be locked. He frowned, knowing that something was not right. Why was his front door unlocked while the bedroom door was locked? It did not make any sense. Thankfully, the door had one of those locks that could be opened from the outside with a key.

Ethan ran down the stairs and grabbed the key from the kitchen cabinet. His heart thudded with every step he took back up the stairs. He did not know what it was, but something just did not add up. Ethan put the key in and turned the lock, opening the door slowly in case something popped out at him.

The room was a mess. Gla.s.s was on the ground; the decoration pieces were broken on the floor. He walked closer and found Kylie"s cell in the middle of the mess.

"Kylie?" Ethan called loudly. She was nowhere in the bedroom, so Ethan quickly walked to the bathroom. 

The scene that met his eyes made his heart stop. Kylie. Kylie was here. She was in the bathtub; the water was up to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Her eyes were closed. She could almost be sleeping, Ethan thought, if it was not for the water having a strange pink color to it.

No. No. No way. Ethan clambered forward towards Kylie, dropping on the ground beside her. He picked her body out of the tub and noticed that her left wrist was slashed. The cut was not deep but still seemed to be bleeding heavily.

"No. Kylie! Kylie!" Ethan cried out, trying to revive his wife, but she was knocked out cold.

What had Kylie done?