The room was eerily silent at evening, and the soft sounds of birds chirping and whistling could be heard from the room, as well as the rhythmic beeps of the life support machines that were planted beside the bed, while monitoring the rise and fall of Zoe's heartbeat. She had been lying there for what felt like an eternity, her chest rising and falling with shallow breaths that seemed barely strong enough to keep going. And by her side was Malcolm, whose hand was wrapped gently around hers in the same way it had been for hours, his eyes fixated and never leaving her. He was hoping desperately in his heart that she would wake up, since it had been the tenth day already without any hope of her waking. Just as he was about to adjust the covers that her fragile body was wrapped in between, his heart skipped a beat, upon noticing what he thought he had hallucinated about. Her fingers twitched at the slightest movement, but it was enough to send a jolt through him as he turned instantly
Marcel sat on the balcony of his apartment with a weary expression etched on his face, the more he tried to call the same phone number he had been trying incessantly for days now, which kept giving the same response. As if that was not enough frustration, his mind could not drift back to the memory that he wished he could bloat out of his head, because he hated that it bothered him so much more than he cared to admit.‘What had he done wrong? He was pretty sure he hadn't done or said anything. So why?’ Were the questions that kept seeping back into his thoughts as much as he tried dismissing them. He dropped his phone angrily on the table that was before him, as he picked up the glass of champagne he had been drinking from initially, the fruity flavor he usually liked in the sparkling white wine, suddenly tasting sour because he couldn't stop thinking of Audrey. It had been days since they unexpectedly met in the restaurant where he had agreed to meet someone, and he moved on as us
A sleek black car glided to a halt in front of the grand, towering mansion after driving through the gate, and Malcolm, who was driving the car, turned to look at Zoe sitting beside him, his heart aching at the sight of her pale face and the dark circles under her eyes. Her fragile body was slumped against the leather seat of the car, and her gaze was distant as she stared out at the mansion. She looked so small and weak in a way that made it evident that something was wrong, and it tore at him to see her like that. Swallowing his worry and resisting the urge to touch her, he spoke up, his voice soft, almost pleading, “Are you sure you are ready to leave, Zoe?” he asked, searching her eyes for any sign of the pain he knew that she was hiding. “Yes, I am,” her reply was curt. “You need more treatment and more time to heal. Can we return a little later when you are properly healed?” He hoped that she would give a positive response, even when he knew that she had made up her mind.
Making up her mind, Zoe stood up from where she sat, and returned to her room instantly, without saying any further. She spent minutes in the bathroom redressing her wound herself even if it wasn't so easy and was quite painful, and took every necessary drug she was supposed to take for the day. From the suitcase that she had brought with her, she pulled out the phone that Malcolm gave her after she woke up, which surprised her when he gave it to her as if she had not lost it before. Her mind quickly drifted back to how he said he was able to locate her, after her phone went off during their call, and how he instantly made his way to her company only to confirm that she had been abducted. “How were you able to find me?” she had asked him when she finally started responding to treatments, and was able to talk without feeling so much pain. Though she still seemed so pissed at him and kept him walking on eggshells around her, she couldn't help but ask. “You might get mad,” he feared,
Zoe sat in her opulent but suffocatingly quiet villa, with her world sinking around her, while trapped in nothingness and pain, even if she was surrounded with beauty and luxury. She laid limply on the couch in the living room as she stared blankly at the ceilings, the memories of the last conversation she had with Francis Sinclair before she left his house, playing on a loop in her mind, each word a hammer blow to her already fragile spirit. She had stood across from him when he caught her standing in his room, with her heart pounding in her chest, as he stepped closer, his face now visible from a short distance, and she could see the hardness in his expression. “So you came to ask me that? I thought you knew I wasn't home,” his cold voice outrightly snapped in a low and dangerous tone, willing to offer no compromises. “How would I have known?” Zoe remembered the head of the maids telling her, but she feigned ignorance at that moment as she swallowed, “I thought you were not goin
“Zoe, is this truly you? Is this your voice?” Martin could not believe the person that was speaking on the other side of the phone, his eyebrows furrowed so high. “Yes, it is me,” Zoe's voice came out as soft as possible. “Goodness! Goodness! How have you been so distant?” Martin, who sounded like he would cry in relief, asked her, his mind still reeling that Zoe suddenly called him, after he had been trying to contact her for weeks. Zoe's left hand rested on her temples, as she rubbed them softly, feeling so apologetic that she had been a terrible friend, “I am truly sorry, Martin. A lot has been going on lately,” her voice was low and shildy. “I thought you cut me off. I thought you……” his words got caught so heavily in his throat as he struggled to breathe, unable to process his emotions all at once, “I was sad, to be honest. I thought I did something wrong.” “I am truly sorry for everything I might have made you think or assume. It is just that…it is just that I have been goi
Huddled in a corner of her room was Audrey, whose knees clung tightly to her chest, her breath coming in short, panicked gasps, each one caught in her throat as if she were drowning in the thick air of her fear, while struggling to hold her tears. She had read the message that was sent to her phone over and over, the words blurring together every single time, as fresh tears welled up in her eyes, a terrible ache plaguing her head. Every time she tried to blink them away and put herself together, the terrifying message occurred to her again, with the choking realization that someone knew what she had done. The sender’s identity was unknown, but the intent was clear; they had her in their grip, and they weren’t going to let go.She pressed her hand to her mouth while trying to stifle the sobs that shook her body, her heart wrenching with an asphyxiating dread that threatened to choke her. ‘Who in her husband’s family knew? Who had discovered her secret? Was it Irina? Ivy? Isla?’ The
Malcolm returned home two days after he dropped Zoe off at her grandfather's house, and ordered those that were in charge of the tracking devices connected to the bracelet to put it off as he had promised her that he would, till she would be able to get rid of it herself. The maids all had shocked expressions on their faces when he appeared in the mansion, and were more surprised because he came in without Zoe, leaving them perplexed in the wonder of their wrong speculations that both of them had been together throughout their absence. As usual, he went up to his room without speaking to anyone or giving an avenue to be asked where he had been, and why he had been so distant without communicating to any of them. That was how they had always been as a family. Before pushing the door to his room open, he stood outside his room for a few seconds, his eyes lingering on the door of Zoe's room which was just opposite his. And even if he knew that there was no way she was inside the room