Dante woke up the following morning and dressed to prepare for work. He straightened his tie and grabbed his suitcase, hurrying down the stairs the moment he was set.Downstairs, when he walked past the dining area with the door that opened into the kitchen right behind it, he bowed his head as the space suddenly evoked memories of Lyra.He could not help but remember the vivid routines of the recent past—how Lyra would always pack and set his lunch bag aside before his office time. How she would greet and differ from him, her little innocent smile, and her naive gestures.Dante exhaled. He did not need anyone to tell him that he had begun to miss Lyra, but then again, one had to consider why she had to leave. Her lies—there was no way one could trust someone like that."Never." He thought aloud, shaking his head repeatedly, as he finally made his way to leave.Dante arrived at his office less than an hour later. As soon as he erupted from the private elevator that opened directly i
Dante's jaw hung loose as he read through the shocking findings on Felix, particularly his medical information, which showed that the man was seriously ill at some point."Does it mean Lyra did all she did to save him?"He reasoned uneasily with his head aching as he tried to grapple with the possibility of such a scenerio and what it would mean for him."He remarried? Could he have betrayed her?" He murmured in deep thought.Exhaling and narrowing his eyes as he tried remembering again how tensed Lyra had looked on that day of Felix's engagement—her weird gestures and thoughtful silences.He shook his head and leaned towards the wall to unplug Lyra's phone from the socket. He pressed the power key with his thumb to switch it on; it came on, but the screen seemed to have been locked with a password."Aggh!" Dante groaned with a palm on his forehead. Then he grabbed his phone again to call Marcus."I need you to find me a good phone engineer who can unlock a device with all the previou
"Good morning to you Mr Dante." Felix greeted cheerfully, flashing an even more happy smile as he turned around to face Dante."Morning Mr. Felix please have a seat." Dante gestured as he tried to maintain his composure and keep a straight face, choosing to momentarily ignore the weight of the discovery he just made about the face standing before him."Thank you," Felix responded in the same jovial manner before stooping to take his seat.“So nice to meet up with you this early, at your office...I heard it's always so tight." Felix remarked, still sounding quite light-hearted. His energy was intrusively and unapologetically jocular so Dante knew he would have to employ double effort in keeping his calm and staying professional. In the preceding minutes, their conversation took on a more formal tone as they delved into the contract negotiations immediately. A large chunk of the first few minutes was spent by Dante questioning Felix's trustworthiness and experience.From questions l
Four years laterLyra was sitting in the driver's seat of one of her Ford F-series supercars with Sarah, her business associate, in the passenger's seat. Behind them, a blue Sienna carrying all five major members of her administrative team had just reversed in the opposite direction, heading back to their respective homes.They had actually just closed from Lyra's office headquarters, where she had just delivered a farewell message to her workers as she prepared to embark on a relatively long journey out of this beautiful city of Crestview, the same city that had changed her life and business drastically.Talking about change, a lot has really changed about Lyra after all these years. So much has happened in her life and career after all the setbacks, betrayal, and disappointment that had almost crushed her over the past four years, but she has survived against all odds.Now Lyra was at the helm of her thriving fashion empire, "Elysium Couture," as it was called.An exquisite fashion
Dante stood inside the closing elevator, watching the lady with the luggage who was just about to get in earlier. He wore a slightly offended expression after she waved at him without looking, indicating that he could go on without her. Her back was now turned against him, with a phone placed against her ears."What is she feeling like?"He thought with a pained, pissed-off face.He had just returned from work and had decided to spend the night at this secretly rented apartment as usual. An apartment none of his family members knew he owned. He had decided to secure it after the disturbances from his grandmother regarding the good old marriage topic. And her disturbances were beginning to get out of hand. Grandmother had even, at one point in the past, sent one of her friend's granddaughters to his house. That was the deal-breaker for him; he had decided to secure some private haven unknown to all of them in the meantime to keep his sanity.Now here he was, after a really long day.
Lyra proceeded into the elevator after the call. It ascended, and after a few minutes, it stopped again and opened into the entrance of floor 6A, where her new apartment was located.She stepped out and cautiously located the door to her room by reading the tags above each door. She finally found it at the end of the hallway. She stood in front of the door and punched in the four-digit code to gain access. Immediately after that, the door creaked open.Lyra smiled the moment she entered. Her eyes took a slow, satisfied scan of the living room. It was exactly like her old room back in Crestview.It was an expansive square room with two large parallel windows covered with thick brown curtains. The color of the carpet and the ceiling were the same cream color, like the one she had back home. The cabinet was filled with drinks, and a moderate-sized flat-screen TV was lodged on the central wall."Welcome home Lyra." She smiled again.The familiar look of the room was why she had picked i
Lyra tossed and turned from one side to the next in the bedroom before she finally opened her eyes slowly to come awake. She yawned and stretched out, sitting up lazily on the bed, only to notice Aria's figure standing with her back turned.The air was charged with an enticing, spicy aroma coming from the kitchen. Lyra sniffed the air from her relaxed posture; even the pillows and bed sheets had been laced with the scent.Aria was actually serving breakfast on the side table."Morning dear." Lyra was greeted with a tired face.Aria turned swiftly to glance at Lyra. She let out a smile and then went, making her previous busy hand movements and glancing at the wall repeatedly."Hey babes, how was your night?" She asked, but before Lyra could respond, she went ahead to mutter to herself."I need to start heading to the office now; I think I'm running late already." "So what are your thoughts about my offer last night?" Lyra blurted from the bed. Aria mentioning her job had instantly r
Lyra took another good look at the lady again, battling with mixed emotions. She was indeed one of those colleagues who were fond of badmouthing her years back when she was still working part-time with Douglas."Good day, madam." The lady greeted her respectfully, looking blank. She obviously couldn't even recognize Lyra.Lyra kept her silence, approaching her slowly and wondering if it was too early to start making personnel changes. "Good morning, madam." She greeted again this time, a little more loudly; she must have assumed Lyra didn't hear the first one.Lyra stood to stare directly at her, contemplating her next move. From this position, her mind began to drift, recalling the harsh times of her previous life. The pain and humiliation this particular lady had caused her then. The memories left a sour taste in her tongue and bitterness in her belly."Do… I know you?" The lady, who was now looking extremely confused, stammered helplessly when she wasn't getting any response from
It was about two days after Lyra had been discharged from the hospital.But instead of returning to the old apartment building, Dante surprised her by driving straight to the towering mansion located inside a secured estate at the heart of town. It was their new home, which he had bought during her time at the hospital.That evening, she had hugged and kissed him so passionately that it filled him with a renewed sense of hope.On this morning, the atmosphere was calm and serene, a contrast to the chaos of the past few days.The room was a testament to their fresh start: moderate yet cozy, decorated with personal touches that told their story.Dante stood by the kitchen counter, carefully arranging a vase of fresh flowers.Lyra entered the room, her steps light and tentative. She was getting used to walking like a baby all over again after being bedridden for close to two weeks.She smiled at Dante, feeling an overwhelming surge of gratitude.“We’ve been through the worst, babe,” Dante
Lyra was lying in the closed space that was her hospital room. By her side were flowers and get-well-soon cards from her staff and members of Dante’s family; the largest were from James and Emily, who had come to see her yesterday, their faces tender and affectionate.Now, though, the room was quiet, except for the soft hum of medical equipment.Lyra lay in the hospital bed, her eyelids moving up and down slowly.She looked around weakly, taking in the sight of the flowers and cards. The pain was still there, but it was duller now, less sharp than before. Dante sat by her side, his eyes filled with concern and love."Hey," Lyra whispered, her voice weak but steady.Dante leaned closer, a smile spreading across his face. "You're doing great, my love. One step at a time."Lyra's eyes filled with tears."James told me... I couldn't have done this without you." She managed to say her eyes were meek and full of meaning.Dante squeezed her hand gently. "We're in this together, Lyra. Alway
The morning after the night of the interception, the grand living room of Cooper’s mansion was filled to the brim with people.The entire family was present, from Grandmother Allesandra to Lucas and Mirabel in their handcuffs, then his dad, Dante, and even James and Emily were around. They had flown in the previous night; others who were also around were the police officials led in by Eric. Everyone had all shown up for the critical meeting after the emergency message from Grandma and Dante, and they face a crude mix of shock, anger, and sorrow.Grandma had insisted yesterday that they be kept in the house until morning so that this meeting could hold.Earlier that day, Detective Eric, Dante, and a team of officers stormed the mansion after Dante reached out to his grandmother. The plan had been executed flawlessly.The gates were shut off and immediately surrounded by policemen. Lucas and Mirabel had been locked up in the room, their faces frozen in shock and apprehension as they tri
After about three hours of waiting, the lead doctor returned from the emergency ward. Dante leaped from the chair.“Yes doctor? How is she doing?”“Calm down, Mr. Dante; we are making progress. She is not fully up yet. But we are making progress. I’m confident she will survive thiss." He tapped on Dante’s shoulder.“Take some rest. This is going to take a few more hours.”Dante was a little relieved by the confident tone of the doctor; at least he wasn’t sounding as tensed as he was when they first came.He decided to use the free time to hunt her attackers.Once he was outside the hospital building, he stood at one spot, mumbling to himself as he tried to piece together the events of the past few hours. The attack on Lyra, the driverless truck—it all felt like a puzzle he couldn’t quite solve. The more he thought, the clearer it became that someone was keeping tabs on them, closely monitoring their every move.“I mean, how did they know I was going to be parking at that exact spot?
Dante stepped out of the gleaming glass doors of his office building. It was past 6 p.m. already, and the late evening sun hovered above the sky, ready to start receding.The usual hum of traffic and distant chatter filled the air, but something felt off. As he approached his car in the open parking lot, he noticed the front tires looked slightly deflated, and fresh scratches marred the previously pristine rims.He stopped a few steps from the car, hanging his hands on his waist.“What the hell?” He muttered, crouching to inspect the damage. Everything had been in perfect shape when he parked this morning. A sense of unease settled in his chest. Who would tamper with his car, and why?He looked around the fenced expanse for a moment but couldn’t find anyone close by.In helpless resignation, he climbed into the car and drove off slowly.In a few minutes, he managed to totter the vehicle to a nearby repair shop, less than five miles away from his office headquarters, carefully maneuve
The good light of the evening filtered through the blinds, casting a pale glow over the sterile hospital room.Lyra stirred on the narrow blue bed, feeling groggy and disoriented. She blinked a few times, her vision blurry, trying to make sense of her surroundings.The faint smell of antiseptic hung in the air, and the gentle beeping of machines created a rhythmic noise in the background.As her vision cleared, she noticed Dante sitting by her side, his eyes heavy with concern.His presence was a reassuring anchor.She took a deep breath, her voice barely a whisper.“You came? Where is…where is…”“Shhhh!” Dante hushed, leaning forward tenderly, his hand gently holding hers. “He’s gone.” He muttered calmly."You fainted a few hours ago, Lyra. Felix called me. He told me everything that happened. We brought you here immediately. After that, I asked him to leave."Lyra's heart thumped as the memories of the restaurant flooded back in that minute. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she tu
Lyra drove towards Philly April’s café with a blank expression, even though her heart was aching with curiosity.Felix had called earlier to promise his sincere apologies, and more importantly, he had claimed that he was ready to make some significant confessions, but she remained skeptical.She wondered if this was another one of his ploys, but that would not be a problem because she was ready to go any length to force the truth out of him, particularly the real truth about Aria's involvement in all of this.As greatly as she would have wished never to see or talk with Felix, her determination to uncover the truth pushed her forward.As she parked her car and approached the café, she steeled herself for the confrontation.The café was quiet, and the afternoon sun cast a golden hue over the cozy interior. Lyra spotted Felix immediately. He sat at a secluded table, his posture slumped, and his head tilted downward. His guilty, cowering look only fueled her anger.“I just hope this isn
Dante stood outside Lyra’s apartment, his heart rumbling with different thoughts, and he ached for her to appear so he could finally get the chance to defend himself.He took a deep breath and knocked on the door about four times, his knuckles rapping sharply against the wood.Inside, he heard the muffled sounds of movement, followed by Lyra’s voice, strained with pain and anger.“Just go away, Dante! I don’t want to see you!”Dante knocked again, louder this time. “Lyra, please, just hear me out!”“I’ve heard enough lies already!” Her voice reverberated through the door, each word a stab at his heart.“I said, just go away. Leave me the heck alone. Is that too much to ask?”The oppressive weight of desperation settled over him.He knocked once more, his voice rising.“Lyra, it’s about Mirabel. You need to know the truth. Just hear me out. Don't tell me you haven't been asking some questions either. Just give me the chance to offer you some answers; that is all I ask.”There was a bri
Dante sat next to his study desk, his eyes fixed on his phone. He dialed Lyra’s number again, waiting anxiously as it rang. Once, twice, and three times, each ring echos in the silent room. After five rings, the call went to voicemail. He let out a frustrated sigh, his mind racing with questions."Please pick up the phone, Lyra." He muttered quietly, pushing the phone aside as he stood up to start pacing the room. The last judgmental image he had of her, coupled with the unanswered calls so far, was only adding to his confusion and frustration.He debated going to her apartment, but the thought of facing her without answers held him back. His mind wandered back to that night. What exactly had happened? His thoughts spiraled, imagining the worst. Had he really slept with Amara? But How?The memory was hazy and fragmented. How had it come to this? He reasoned, his mind a whirlwind of doubt. The last thing he remembered was sitting in a hall with Mirabel. Amara was so much farther a