As I lay in Tyler's arms later that night, I go over my conversation with Clarke in my head. I was so surprised he picked up and that he still even uses the number he used eight years ago. He was so ready to help. It was like he'd been waiting for me to reach out. But that'll be crazy impossible right? He probably didn't even think of me these past eight years. Clarke was my best friend. He was more than a friend actually. We were so close and I thought I would have him forever. We never defined our relationship but only because what we had was too special to be put into words. Or at least that's what I thought. Clarke's father was my dad's right hand man as the boss of the Luciano family of the Italian mafia. Peter was American and only got into the mafia through his wife who was originally supposed to take over from her father who was the right hand of my grandfather. She wasn't interested though, so her father passed it on to Clarke's dad. That is what Clarke and I had planned to do. I wasn't so interested in leading so we had decided that when Clarke and I married, he would be the boss and Luca, a mutual friend of ours would be his right hand. However, when Peter, my dad and I got into a car accident that claimed both their lives and left me with metal in some parts of my knee, I decided that I was not going to have anything to do with the Luciano family. I couldn't imagine having to worry over Clarke the way I always did about my dad and I didn't want any children I'll give birth to to have to go through the same. Before the accident, I wanted to be an athlete. I was very good at marathon races and my coach even said I had the potential to make it to the Olympics. My knee got damaged though, and I was told that I would never be able to run again. It took almost a year for me to fully recover, and I still feel aches in my knee when I stand for too long and sometimes when I climb too many stairs at once.

I was devastated. I had just lost my dad and also gotten my dreams shattered. I thought Clarke would understand me and support me in my decision. I just wanted a peaceful life. But Clarke didn't want that. He wanted the power that came with being the mafia's boss. He couldn't imagine living a simple life with me. I wasn't enough for him and so we went our separate ways. For the first few months after our separation, I found it hard to do anything without Clarke. We grew up together and he was such a part of my life that he took a part of me when he left. I found myself in art and now, I am a famous and rich painter. I found Tyler three years after the accident and we fell in love. We got married about one year later and found out I was pregnant with Ellie about two weeks into our marriage.

We've been happy since then. Tyler has been so good and I guess that's what makes this worse. If I had been told that Tyler could do something like this, I'm sure I wouldn't have believed. I sigh as I think about this whole situation again. I have to run away tomorrow. Clarke and I have put a plan in place. We cannot afford to waste any more time. Leland said that we have two weeks but just like Clarke said, we could never trust these kind of people. As I drift asleep, I pray that tomorrow's plans go well.

When I wake up the next morning, Tyler is already out of bed. I can hear his deep voice and Ellie's giggles from the sitting room. After taking a shower, I walk downstairs to meet them on the kitchen counter. It appears Tyler is making pancakes and is dressed for work. He is just putting the stove off when I walk into the kitchen. Ellie is the first to see me.

"Mummy is here!" She claps her hands together as I come to give her a kiss

"Hey baby girl. How did you sleep?"

"I saw Elsa in my sleep mummy. And Ana and the snowman!"

"That's only because you've watched frozen so much Ellie. We should watch other ones today." I tell her while laughing. She truly is the joy of my life.

"Daddy says you're sleeping beauty mummy. You sleep so long all the time." I laugh again and look towards Tyler who is also chuckling as he sets breakfast on the table. I take a moment to observe our family and how we seem so happy. How could Tyler want to spoil this? I decide not to dwell on it now and give Tyler a kiss as he comes close to me. Ellie giggles and tries to push us apart like she always does whenever she sees us kiss, and I turn to her and start to tickle her.

While we are eating breakfast, Tyler turns to me and asks

"So what are you guys doing to do today?"

"I was thinking of just going on a drive to find inspiration to complete my painting. Ellie has a princess party with Mia so I'll just drop her there and go back to pick her up after some time. Why are you asking?" Those are not my actual plans but of course I can't tell him about my actual plans. If that won't be the definition of stupidity, then I don't know what that is.

"I was thinking we should go out tonight. It's been long since we did anything. We could keep Ellie with my dad for the night and it'll be just us. What do you think?" I want to say that I will never trust Leland with my Ellie, I want to say that I see what he's trying to do. He's trying to spend as much time as possible with me before he throws me away. I want to say that Ellie and I will not be here when he comes back from work today. But I swallow all those words and instead just squeeze his hand on the table, smile and say

"That'll be so nice. I'm looking forward to it."

Soon Tyler is leaving for work and Ellie and I are saying goodbye to him at the door. I almost cry when I think about how this is the last time we're going to be together like this. If we ever meet again, I'm sure it won't be under good circumstances. Immediately Tyler's car is completely out of the driveway, I take Ellie up to her room so she can shower. I leave her to play while I go back to my room to pack a few things. Clarke told me not to pack more than I will when I go out usually in case I'm being watched or there are cameras around the house. It means that whatever I am packing, must fit in my handbag and the other small bag I usually carry around with me that contains some necessities for Ellie. The first thing I do is to go to my closet and search in the deepest part of my large box for something I have not seen or used in more than eight years. My gun. It is a gun my dad had specially made for me. It carries the sign of the Luciano family. I load the bullets and take all the extras I have with me. I take mine and Ellie's passports as well as Ellie's birth certificate and my marriage certificates. I don't know if I'll need them but Clarke said to pack any important documents. I also take the property documents of my art gallery as well as the copyright issues for my artwork. I would hate for Tyler to sell any of my work when I'm gone. I don't bother taking any clothes with me. I have enough money to buy as many clothes as I need later. I take a look at the time. Its just a little after eleven in the morning. I have to get to the mall before 12:30. Clarke said Luca would meet me there so that we could lose anybody that may be following me. I am so proud of myself for calling Clarke, I am a hundred percent sure that I would not have taken all these precautions if I had decided to do it myself. I go to Ellie's room and pick her up so we can leave. As we walk out of the house, I stand in front of it and think about all the memories I have in this house. A single tear falls and I wipe it off before Ellie sees it and asks what it is about. We get into the car and I start to drive to the mall.

"Are we here to shop mummy? I want a crown for my princess party. The kind that Mia has." Ellie says as she sees us drive in.

"Of course my baby. Anything you want." I say in a shaky voice as I find somewhere to park my car. I will be leaving it here. Now that it is time to execute the plan, my palms are sweaty and I can barely stop them from shaking. There is so much at risk, I don't even want to think about what would happen if this doesn't work out.

"Come on let's go" I say to Ellie as we both walk into the crowded mall with the bags I have with me. Ellie is carrying her little princess bag that I got for her fourth birthday. She always carries it about empty.

I go to the ice cream shop and get some for Ellie so she can be busy for some minutes. She probably takes more sugar than she needs but I'm not really bothered about it. I wait for some minutes and check my time. Its few minutes to half past twelve. Luca should be here anytime soon. I am even more nervous now.

"Come Ellie, stay beside me." I say to her as she wanders about. Just as I bring Ellie back to stand beside me, I feel somebody standing very close behind me and something is pressed against my back. It takes a while for me to figure out what it is but when I do, I freeze. It's something I am very familiar with. The cold metal head of a gun.