It definitely wasn’t because today was my first wedding anniversary.

No. Most certainly not that.

On the list of the most forgettable things to happen to me in the last year, my hastily arranged wedding and the shockingly cold ceremony was right at the top. Not to mention the trapped groom who couldn’t wait to walk away from me. The man I now had the dubious pleasure of calling my husband.

My heart leapt into my throat even as I pushed Axios’s image away. He would need to be dealt with soon.

But not just yet.

I lifted my face to the blazing sun, willed it to pierce through my desolation and touch my wounded soul. I needed brightness and mirth, sunshine and positivity. If only for a little while longer... It might all be gone soon, slipping through my fingers like mercury.

Gripping the railing of the sleek sailboat transporting me from an exclusive Bora Bora resort to the adjoining uninhabited island where I’d ordered my picnic, I mentally went through my list from bottom to top.

Number five: Take control of my life. Check.

Contrary to my fears, walking away hadn’t doomed me or my mother. My monthly phone calls reassured me that she was fine. My father, now a hundred million euros richer, was engrossed in yet another business venture. Better still, he hadn’t challenged any of the terms of the contract he’d made with Axios.

Number four: Do something worthwhile with my painting. Check.

The past year had been frightening in some ways but immensely fulfilling in the exploration of my talent. I was still basking in the knowledge that I could have had a career if fate hadn’t pushed me down a different path.

Number three: Accept that my condition might not have a happy ending and that my prognosis might follow my grandmother’s. Check.

It had been a difficult acceptance, often pitted with tears and heartache and grief for all the things I might never have. For what this would do to those I love.

Number two: Cherish my precious gift for as long as I can. Check. Check. Check.

The last item on my list filled me with equal parts desolation and trepidation. But it needed to be done.

Number one: Hand over my precious gift to Axios Xenakis.

As if that gift knew he was in my thoughts, a soft cry rippled through the sun-drenched breeze, followed by a sharper one, demanding attention.

Smiling, I turned from the railing and crossed the deck to the shaded lounge. There, lying amongst the cushions, was the reason for my heartbeat. The reason I needed to keep fighting for my unknown future.

‘Are you awake, my precious boy?’

At the sound of my voice Andreos Xenakis kicked his plump legs, his arms joining in his giddy response as his searching eyes found mine. For an instant my breath caught. The similarity between the piercing grey eyes of father and son was so visceral, I froze.