Chapter 5: The Life I Built.

SHARON'S POV.

FIVE YEARS LATER.

I stared at the magazine lying open in front of me, unable to stop myself from smiling.

There I was.

My face covered the front of Time Magazine, beneath a headline calling me Hollywood's Newest It Girl.

I stared at that cover so many times since it came out that the excitement should have worn off by now but it hadn't.

I still couldn't believe it was me.

"You know, if you keep staring at that thing, I'm pretty sure they'll have to bury you with it." I glanced over my shoulder and laughed.

Simon stood behind me, his eyebrows raised in amusement.

"You're just jealous because you're not on the cover." I replied and he rolled his eyes.

"Obviously."

Before I could say anything else, little footsteps came rushing toward me.

"Mummy!" Ally appeared from the kitchen and wrapped her arms around my waist. I immediately bent down and kissed the top of her head. "There's my baby. What happened?" I asked.

She grinned up at me before climbing into the chair beside mine.

I ran my fingers through her long brunette hair, and for a moment, my smile faded.

She looked so much like her father.

Christian.

With her long dark hair and pale brown eyes. Down to the shape of her nose. There were days when I saw Christian in her so clearly that it almost hurt but I had learned to live with it.

I'd had nine months to prepare myself for the reality that no matter how far I ran or how completely I rebuilt my life, I would always have a reminder of Christian beside me.

Five years had passed since I left West Virginia.

It had been five years since I walked away from the marriage that had once been my entire world and not once had I wished I'd stayed.

Instead, I built a life I once thought was impossible.

I became an actress.

Not the struggling woman taking tiny roles and hoping someone would remember her name.

A real actress.

A leading actress.

My first major Hollywood film had become a box-office success, and suddenly the same people who had ignored me for years were fighting to put me on magazine covers.

All those exhausting acting classes and never ending auditions. The nights I spent wondering if I had made the wrong decision by chasing a dream everyone else thought was unrealistic.

Now, it had finally paid off.

And somehow, that wasn't even the best part.

I had Simon—the man who had walked into my life at the exact moment I had been falling apart and he'd stayed by my side ever since and most importantly, he never treated Ally like she was anything less than his own.

After years of believing that happiness wasn't for me, Simon showed me what love was without making it feel like a burden.

"You look beautiful in that picture." He came around the table and leaned down, pressing a kiss my forehead.

"Thank you." I smiled at him.

"My mother saw the movie last weekend," He said. "She made me promise I'd tell you how proud she is." My heart warmed.

"That's so sweet."

"She meant every word."

His words settled in my chest and it was strange thinking about how different my life looked from five years ago.

I still remembered the day I met Simon.

I'd just moved here and I was on my way out of hospital after finding out I was pregnant with my ex-husband's child, and I was so lost in my own thoughts that I almost walked straight into traffic.

Simon had nearly hit me with his car.

At the time, I had thought it was the worst possible way to meet someone but looking back, it almost felt like the universe had been pushing him toward me.

He stayed.

Through the pregnancy and the sleepless nights. Through my auditions and countless rejections.

Through every moment I doubted myself.

Along the way, friendship became something deeper and somehow, he had fallen in love with me and the little girl who wasn't even biologically his.

I didn't understand how I got so lucky.

Simon picked up his briefcase from beside the table.

"You deserve every bit of this." He said and I looked up at him. "Sometimes it still doesn't feel real." I replied.

"But it is." His expression softened.

"You've worked for this, Sharon. Nobody handed it to you." He took my hand and squeezed it and a smile pulled at my lips.

"Thank you." I said softly.

He leaned down and kissed me before glancing at his watch.

"Damn. I'm late."

"You're always late." I laughed.

"Not always." He rolled his eyes to the back of his head and I couldn't stop laughing.

"Almost always." I said.

He shook his head before heading toward the door.

"I'll see you tonight." He said, then his eyes fell to Ally. "And too, troublemaker." Ally giggled, crossing her arms.

"Bye, Uncle Matteo!" She said.

The door closed behind him and Ally pulled out a chair next to me when a bowl of cereal in her hands.

I quickly moved the magazine out of her reach but she'd already seen it. "Is that you, Mummy?" Her eyes landed on the cover.

"Yes." I smiled.

"Wow." She exclaimed and I laughed softly. "Mummy was in a big movie, and apparently everyone suddenly decided they wanted to know who she was." Ally stared at the picture for another second.

"You look pretty." She said and my heart melted.

How could it not?

"Thank you, baby." I kissed her temple and for a moment, I just sat there and looked at her. My daughter. My career.

My home.

Everything I was once terrified I would never have.

My phone suddenly vibrated across the table and I glanced at the screen. It was Malcolm, my agent.

"Hi." I answered immediately.

"Sharon! Have you seen the TIMES article?" He said excitedly and I laughed. "Of course I have." I said.

"It's incredible. Do you understand how huge this is?" He asked.

"I think I'm still trying to."

"We've spent the last two years building your career, and it's finally exploding." He replied. "Exploding is one word for it." I said, leaving back into my chair.

"You haven't heard the best part." Malcolm then said.

"What?" I sat up.

"You know Harriett Sanders, right?" I blinded. "Of course I know Harriett Sanders, everyone knows Harriett Sanders."

"Exactly."

Harriett Sanders wasn't just another Hollywood director. She was easily one of the biggest names in the industry, with award after award attached to her name.

She could turn a good actress into a household name with one film.

"What's she got to do with me?" I asked.

"Her next movie." Malcolm replied and I froze. "She's interested in you for the female lead in this romcom she's directing next year." He added and for a second, I couldn't breathe.

"What?" I exclaimed.

"You heard me." Malcolm said.

"Are you fucking serious?" I shot from my chair, clutching my face with my hand. "Not in the slightest." He replied.

Ally looked up from her cereal and was probably wondering what had gotten into me but she wouldn't understand.

"Harriett Sanders wants me to audition for her next movie." I muttered loud enough so maybe I could believe. "In fact, he specifically asked about you because he loved of your last movie."

Everyone did.

That movie changed everything for me.

I'd known the moment I read the script that it was special, but I never imagined it would reach someone like Harriett Sanders.

"A lead role in her movie could take you to another level," Malcolm continued. "I'm talking international recognition, Sharon." I paced across the room.

"When do I meet him?" I asked.

"Next week."

"Yes, I want the role. I don't care what I have to do." I said and Malcolm scoffed.

"Good. Because I'm calling his team tomorrow morning." He said.

"This is insane." I dropped back into my chair. "No," Malcolm said. "This is exactly what you've been working toward." He added.

"Thank you." I smiled and then the call ended.

I stared at my phone for a few seconds.

Harriett Sanders.

A lead role.

An actual chance to become something bigger than I had ever imagined.

"Mummy?" I looked over at Ally who had been watching me carefully. "Everything okay?" She asked and I stared at her.

"Everything is perfect." I pulled her closer.

"Mummy finally made it and I'm going to make sure you have the best life possible." Her little arms wrapped around my waist but I caught the smile disappear from across her lips.

"What is it?" I pulled away.

"Promise you won't get angry." She whispered and my heart sank. "When have I ever gotten angry at you?" I asked.

She looked down at her bowl.

"Whenever I ask about my dad." She said.

The smile on my face vanished and I pushed a hard lump soon my throat.

"I'm not angry." I said.

"Yes, you are." She pointed at my face. "You always make that face every time you're angry." She continued.

I forced myself to breathe.

Ally had always known Simon wasn't her biological father. We never had to lied to her about that but then again, we never told her the entire truth.

As she grew older, the questions become harder.

Where is my father?

Why doesn't he visit us?

Why does he never call?

Why did all his friends have fathers while I don't?

I'd been avoiding these questions for years but I knew I couldn't keep doing it forever.

"Did Dad not want me?" Ally looked at me and the question cut deeper than I expected.

"No." I crouched in front of him.

"Then why isn't he here?" She sobbed.

In that moment, I didn't know what to say.

How could I explain that her Dad had once looked me in the eyes and told me he never loved me? How could I tell my six-year-old daughter that her father had no idea that she existed because I had chosen to keep her a secret?

The simple answer was I couldn't.

Not yet.

Maybe never.

"One day, you'll meet him." I tightened my jaw. It hurt me to even lie to her. "When?" Ally looked up at me and I nodded.

"Soon."

Just like that, the questions stopped, at least for now. And Ally ran into his room while I remained on the couch.

A heavy ache settled inside my chest.

'How long could I keep doing this?' I asked myself.

I had spent five years telling myself there would eventually be a right time but there wasn't.

And Christian...

He was married to Cassandra now.

Five years had passed and whatever life he had built back in our hometown had nothing to do with me.

There was no way I could suddenly call him and say,

*You have a five-year-old daughter.*

My phone rang again, pulling me out of my thoughts and I reached for it without thinking. I halted when I saw the name on the screen.

MUM.

My heart immediately tightened.

My mother rarely called without a reason.

"Mum?" I answered and there was a brief pause before all of a sudden, I heard her crying.

"Mom? What's wrong?" I questioned.

She was struggling to speak but I could still make out her words. "It's your father, Sharon."

As soon as she said that, my heart dropped.

"What happened?" Tears instantly filled my eyes and she took a deep breath. "He's dying, Sharon. And he needs you."

"We both do."