Echoes Of Emptiness

Chapter 1

I'm scared, I'm scared when I get too close with someone or get attached with someone, because I feel like when I started getting close to them I feel like they're gonna abandon me just like how my parents did.

I grew up alone without anyone guiding me,  stock in these darkness alone without anyone. I have everything, money, expensive clothes, cars that every woman could ever asked for.

"Aaron, come here, asap." I said, calling my secretary through the  intercom. "Yes, ma'am" magaling nitong saad. "Clear all my schedule today until tomorrow, I want to go home and rest." I said without looking at him .

"But ma'am you still have meeting this evening with Mr." sabi nito na parang di maka paniwala sa kanyang naring mola sakin. "I'll do it tomorrow, I'm not in the mood right know and I want to go home." I said looking at him with my bored and not interested eyes.

Standing up and getting my stuff, I walked passed through my frustrated looking secretary "Clean my table for me." I said while patting his shoulder.

I got out of my office and walked passed through my employees, all of them bowed their head, greeting me.

As I stepped into the elevator, the soft hum of the doors closing behind me felt like the only real comfort I’d known in a while. The city skyline stretched out before me through the glass walls, but even the breathtaking view failed to fill the void. Luxury only meant so much when no one was truly there.

My phone buzzed in my purse, but I ignored it. Aaron could handle whatever fires needed putting out while I was gone. Right now, I wanted nothing more than to be alone to everyone around me, to retreat into the cold emptiness that had become my only companion.

Once I get in my car, i didn't start the engine yet I just lean in my seat, as I let my eyes close and rest for a while. "Home," I muttered, while my eyes still closed. Minutes before I open my eyes I started the engine and drive home. Home? Was that even home to me?.

It wasn’t long before pulled up to my estate a sprawling mansion behind iron gates, surrounded by manicured lawns and fountains. A fortress, really. High walls and silence. My sanctuary and my prison all at once.

Inside, the cold marble floors greeted me. The housekeeper appeared, but I waved her off. I didn’t want to see anyone. I didn’t need anyone. Mayroon naman akong mga katulong dito but, pinapapunta kolang sila dito para mag linis ng buong bahay.

I kicked off my heels and made my way upstairs, the echo of my footsteps the only sound in the vast space. The moment I entered my bedroom, I let myself fall onto the bed. Soft, luxurious, but it still didn’t help. I stared at the ceiling, feeling that familiar weight settling back onto my chest, heavier than the finest silk comforter draped over me.

I thought of my parents. How they had once walked away, leaving me with everything, but with nothing all the same. The emptiness they left behind still lingered at me, a wound that had never healed. They had everything, money, power, control. But what they didn’t have was time. Time for me.

I reached for my phone, my fingers hovering over the screen. No messages. No missed calls. Just work emails that Aaron had probably already seen to. I was connected to everyone, yet connected to no one at all.

I closed my eyes, but sleep wouldn’t come. I didn’t expect it to.

I lay there for what felt like hours, my mind wandering through the dark corridors of my past. Memories I thought I had buried deep were now surfacing, refusing to be ignored. The laughter of a little girl me, once full of life, before the silence replaced the sound of affection in my home. Before the walls went up around my heart.