Caught In Your Chaos ✓

Chapter Seventy-Four

You have beautiful eyes, Amelia Swan Henderson.

Because you remind me of someone, someone I've been trying to forget all this while.

You've unleashed something in me, something that I lost a long time ago.

You know she's not her, right.

All those words rang in my head with each step I took towards the painting. My eyes were unwavering from the ones looking back at me, so lifeless yet so intriguing. Everything made sense all of a sudden. I could feel Jake's harsh breathing against the back of my neck.

He had covered the distance between us as if his presence would stop the anxiety creeping into my soul. I ran my trembling fingers over the hazel eyes. It was painted with such beautiful precision that I could almost see the emotions reflecting through them. And that's what shattered my heart even more. It was love. Vanessa's eyes held so much love in them.

The shock was replaced with something more intense, a burning sensation in my heart. I bit down on my knuckles to suppress the sob erupting from me. It was pain, hurt, and anger all at once. For a crazy moment, I considered smearing the painting with a bucket of black color. I wouldn't do that. I couldn't do that because I had never seen a more beautiful portrait of human eyes before. It was Jake's art. I was in love with his art, and as much as it burnt that it wasn't me on his canvas, it also mesmerized me.

I didn't want to believe what appeared to be the obvious truth. It had to the insanity of my mind, treacherous and ugly contemplation. My shoulders slumped as I looked back at the painting. Jake didn't step away. His irregular breathing still reverberated near my ear. I needed to get away from everything that was about to unfold.

"Amy-"

"No," I whirled around and distanced myself from him. "You need to explain this to me, Jacob."

He was staring right back at me, panting and eyes wild with so many emotions. My heart hammered against my chest, knowing that my suspicion might very well be true. His face was very still, but his eyes reflected the conflicts in his mind. I took a step closer to him, touching his clenched fist. His dark eyes never left mine, and I could see through the vulnerability in them.

Could it be that everything we had, every moment, every touch, every feeling was just a reminiscence of someone else's memory? The fury of being played overtook the form of angry tears. "Please tell me it's not what it looks. Tell me that this is just some weird coincidence, and it means nothing."

Jake took an exasperated breath and brushed away my tears before bending down for a feathery kiss.

I jerked away from him with a frown. "Whom did you kiss just now? Was it me or her?"

He remained frozen, closing his eyes for the briefest second, and then he said in a low voice. "You, Amy. I kissed you."

That should have settled the dread in my heart, but it only ignited the fire within me. "Vanessa was your Muse, the one you have been searching, wasn't she?"

He nodded, smiling without humor. Jake looked at the painting, tracing every detail of it with his eyes. "Vanessa was my Muse. And it's a coincidence, yes. But it's so much more than that."

The ground shifted under my feet. Jake had once admitted that I reminded him of someone, someone he couldn't forget. It never really meant anything before, but now I couldn't stand being a mere reminder of someone. I wished deep in my heart that he would deny any possibility of it.

"Jacob, all this time-" my voice broke in between as another drop of tear fell from my eyes. "Were you only there with me because I reminded you of Vanessa? The moments that we spent, those kisses, and the way you held me in your arms, all that time did you imagine Vanessa? What if I had black or brown or any other color of eyes? Would you still look at me the same way? Or was it just my Hazel green eyes that you sought in me?"