Annalise's POV. As the car pulled up, I stood at the entrance with my father and Grandma, eager to welcome my maternal family, my step-family was forced to come and I wish Grandma shouldn't have.The door opened, and there they were—Mom and Grandma J stepping out, my mom had this empty look on her pretty face while Grandma J looked all happy. I couldn't contain my excitement, my face lit up in pure happiness,"Welcome, Grandma J! Welcome, Mom!" I exclaimed, rushing forward to hug them. Grandma J gave me a tight squeeze, while Mom seemed a bit reserved, I know she's very uncomfortable coming here. "Ah, Annalise! Look at you, the heiress of the Smith family. I'm so proud of how your life took a major twist," Grandma J beamed."Thank you, Grandma J. We're delighted to have you here," I replied with a smile, trying to ignore the deadly glare from my step-siblings and moms. "Hey V." Dad smiled coming towards us with Grandma who was all smiles too, "Don't V me here." Mother muttered, t
Annalise's POV.The hospital's sterile, white walls felt suffocating as Dad began to rush into the emergency room that accommodated Mom and Grandma J.Panic gripped me and my pleas to treat them immediately fell on deaf ears, "I can help Dad, Grandma, I can help him with treatment, please let me in. We need to act fast! The poison is ancient and deadly. I can help them, let me treat them!" I insisted, urgency lacing my words.Grandma, still clinging to her belief in Dad's abilities, responded, "Your father is gifted in medicine too, Annalise. He'll take care of them, you'll see how miraculous he'll treat them.""But Grandma, the antidote is complicated, the surgery is tough. We can't waste time!" I argued, frustration building within me, and the urge to start screaming like a mad woman welled up in me but I controlled myself, "Oh, good Lord! Why can't you all understand, this isn't an ordinary poison, it's not!!" I screamed and dropped on the nearest chair, "You're not in the best
The next time I opened my eyes, I was staring up at the white ceiling. My head was aching really bad, I held my head with both hands, all the events that happened flooded into my head again My eyes widened as I screamed, sitting upright,“Grandma! Mother!” “Hey, hey, hey, calm down,” I jolted my head to the side to see Liam sitting beside me on a chair. “How are you feeling?” He asked me but I shook my head before flipping the bedsheet off of me. I needed to see my family, “How are they?” I asked, tears rolling down my cheeks some more. My head was aching really bad, but I ignored it. My family was more important than anything else. “Annalise, you need to rest,” “How the fuck are they, Liam?” I yelled before adding, “If you don't tell me, no problem. I'll get the information myself by going there!” I was about to pull out the IV on me when he held my hand, “Fine, I'll tell you. I'll tell you, do not hurt yourself, Annalise,” I gulped then asked,“How's my family?” He looked
Annalise's POV. "This should do, just a little more drop..." I kept mumbling as I prepared the treatment, it wasn't so hard, I don't know how I knew it but I know it, maybe what they said about me being gifted is true after all,Everything that had been happening to me further proved to me that I might truly be the gifted one. I could see through a body and know which part the damage is and the medicine to use, I understand them, I know how to go about them, and I enjoy doing this. There's some kind of solitude that comes with preparing the herbs, though it took a lot of toil to get some of the ingredients, it was worth it, those that aren't that important are replaced by some modern chemical my dad made. "How's it coming up?" I heard Liam ask and I turned to give him a sweet look. He has helped me and supported me to be here. I don't even know what to say about him, he's truly sweet. "Good, just keep steering that, do not stop till the time stops counting," I warned and he nodde
“You're under arrest ma'am,” the policeman repeated as he moved closer to Annalise with the handcuffs in his hands. “Wait, there has to be a mistake somewhere,” Liam said as he tried to speak to the police officers. “I'm sorry, sir but we have a warrant to arrest her for the attempted murder of Mrs Vivian and Madam Juliet” the policeman explained. I stood there still like a dead cod fish as I watched everything play before my eyes. No words could come out of my lips, I kept staring at them as tears continued to roll down my cheeks. Did they think I'd kill my own family? The ones that had been with me since I was born and had stood by me all my life? They put the cuffs on me and I snapped out of my trance, “But I didn't…” I felt weak, I couldn't even complete my statement. Mother's words kept replaying in my head how she kept saying she doesn't trust the family and they are no good. I should have listened to her, I should have never come with my father. Liam tried to speak with t
Annalise's POV."But grandma, she is giving our hospital a bad name. She might not truly be the gifted one. The concoctions she prepared nearly killed her own family. How can we entrust her with the millions of lives that have trust in this family's skills? I don't think it's right to have her here. We should revoke her medical license before she tarnishes this hospital's name," Mia said, and I just sighed. I was too tired to argue with her nonsense."Look, darling, Anna is new to all this. She will undergo proper training. I'm sure there must be a mix-up somewhere. My spirit knows the gifted one, and I am a hundred percent sure that my Annalise here is the gifted one. She's presently going through some hard times, and hence she must have made some mistakes while preparing the medicine," Grandma defended me again.Why couldn't they all just go home like the rest of the family? I needed to think. My family's life was in danger, and I knew that deep within me, I could heal them. I just
“That's why I need your permission, Grandma,” I whispered at the end hoping Grandma would consider and give me a chance. Right now, she happens to be the only one in her right state of mind. I can't tell Father about this, he doesn't look like he would trust me enough for it. “Anna,” Grandma called, her voice cracked and she cleared it, “I trust you, but are you sure?” With squinted eyes, she asked me. I nodded confidently even though I knew I wasn't so sure of myself.Grandma J would always say whenever I ask her how she knows what herbs to use, she'll always say that the plant called her. She feels the plants talking to her, she feels connected to that particular herb at that particular time and I literally felt this when I prepared the first medicine. This is the reason I am not so sure anymore or else someone had tampered with the medicine. But who could have? Liam and I were the only ones there in the room while I was preparing the medicine and I literally heard those ingredi
Looking around, I kept whispering as I touched every bottle, every container around the room, “Where are you?” I asked in a low voice. I could tell that Liam heard me because he raised his brows at me and I shrugged. He may not understand but I could tell that I am somehow about to communicate with the ingredients for that particular period of time. I was looking around when my eyes caught sight of a leaf by the window. It was a tree that had grown so long and large that it was getting to the window of the room. The leaf became so beautiful in my eyes, inwardly I had already felt it and it was soft that one could mistake it for cotton. Just then, I knew that was the missing ingredient. I walked over and plucked it. I wasn't sure I used this the last time but I am now. When I was done plucking it, I dropped it in the mixture and smiled at Liam, “And that's all,” “Are you sure?” Liam asked with an unsure expression on his face. I knew it was because of the leaf that I had plucked
Annalise's POVThe drive to the Smith family house was swift and quiet. That was because Liam was deep in thought about what I had told him. I shouldn't have but I didn't know when it slipped my mouth as I spoke about the stress I had been facing because of him in school. Well, I think it's because we haven't spoken for a long time and I needed to tell him a lot about what had been going on in my life. I had missed him. When we got to the family house, Liam came over to open the car for me like a gentleman, “Ready?” I sighed, “I don't think I can ever be” “That was what you said when you wanted to go for the reunion but see how it turned out” he smiled at me. I wanted to be positive so I nodded, assuring myself that I was here to only visit Father and Grandma then I'll go back home. “Ah, what's she doing here?” I heard one of the sons speak. What was his name again…? Jerry. “Big sist,” another one smiled as he came over to meet me then pulled me into a hug before I knew it. A fr
Liam's POVIf I say I haven't missed Annalise, I would be a big fat liar. I didn't know I'd get to miss a girl like I missed her. This only means that she had entered my system and had mixed with my blood because what kind of a man would drive from his house early in the morning only to come to stare at a girl's house for more than an hour then drive off? I've been doing that for the past three days. I'll go to her house and park my car there, staring at the house for minutes, and turn to an hour before finally going to work. I had tried as much as I could to put all my attention to work. And yes, I had bullied my employees because I had diverted my anger at them. They suffered it more. The project they were supposed to accomplish in a week, ended up doing within days, really annoying how I had transferred aggression to them. When I heard that Annalise was downstairs, I literally jumped up from my chair. My heart raced as I tried to put my office in order, not like anything was out
Annalise's POVI didn't get any call from Liam, it's been four days. I didn't know he was that hurt. I had stayed with Jared and his son, Alex, in the hospital for two nights. I expected Liam to call and ask how I was doing, but I never received a call from him. That was unlike him. “Anna, shouldn't you be home and resting since you don't have classes today or any emergency yet?” Grandma J asked. I was wearing my shoes as I replied, not looking at her,“Yes, but I want to go and visit someone. I will be back soon, I need the rest too” She didn't say anymore but I assume she got the message. It's also funny how none of them had teased me about Liam since the hospital thing. Did Liam ask them to stop? Within these few days, I also noticed that Benson's flowers and letters also increased and Professor Ken has been a bone in my throat. I wish I could just explode at him and tell him what I really think but I don't want to be disobedient to my professor. As for Mia, she's on a low and I
Annalise's POV “Liam…” I called, a bit shocked at the way he was acting. This was my office and Jared is a patient's parent here, he can't come and start acting like a jealous husband now. Jared held me by the shoulder to stop me from saying any more before he moved closer to Liam, “Hi, I'm Jared” he stretched his hand for a handshake. Liam looked at his hand and didn't bother to take it, he had a deep frown on his face as he looked away from Jared and asked me instead,“Are you ready to go home?” I watched Jared drop his hand, seeing that Liam wasn't planning to take it for a handshake. Damn you, Liam! What kind of jealousy was this? And how do you act this way seeing that the man wants to be friends? I folded my arms across my chest and said,“Liam, this is Jared, his son was rushed to the hospital because he took some poisonous substance” I tried to explain the best way I could. Maybe he would finally face Jared and give the man the respect he deserved. Liam looked from me fi
Annalise's POV. "Jared... What are you doing here?" I asked, my surprise evident in my voice. I never knew I'd see him so soon after the school reunion. "Hey Anna, it's so good to see you again." He waved and I gave him a half smile. "Yeah. What brought a star to the hospital, did you do any dangerous stunt while shooting any movie and broke some bones?" "Well, with a doctor like you at my service, I don't mind breaking all my bones cause I know you'll fix them, just like you fix my son." He chuckled and confusion settled in me. "Your son?" I asked in confusion."Yeah, the nanny brought him to the hospital before calling me, the boy you just finished treating is my son, he was rushed to the hospital some hours ago." He explained and my mouth and eyes opened wide in shock. "You... You had a son?" I questioned in awe and he let out a cackle before nodding in affirmation. "Wow, that's so cool." I found myself saying and he chuckled the more.Yeah, I'm overreacting but wow! "Looks
Annalise's POV. "Hey Annalise." I bullet my head towards the direction of the voice only to see professor Ken standing with two beautiful plastic cups of coffee. "Um, good morning professor, what brings you here?" I asked, my eyes fixed on him. He was cute but nothing compared to Liam."I guessed I'll see you here since you ain't in school, I've been looking for you." He gave me a cup and I nodded my thank you.He sat beside me and because of the closed proximity, I shifted, letting out a forced giggle.What does he want?"So how's the school treating you?" His eyes were on me and it made me very uncomfortable and conscious."Good, it's been great sir. Can I help you? I'm preparing for the upcoming test and I need my full focus." I smiled and he gave me a nod of understanding."It's alright, I was wondering if you're free this weekend." The fake smile on my face disappeared as I stared at the man, this wasn't the first time he was asking this week, "As I've said before sir, I am n
Annalise's POV“Grandma!” I gasped in shock as I looked around. The light was turned on for me to see properly only to find Grandma J, Mother, and Grandma Smith smiling at me. What the hell?!“Why aren't you all asleep?” I asked, staring at each of them. And why is Grandma Smith still here? “It's almost 12 in the morning, why aren't you all in bed?” “And miss all of that?” Grandma J asked, referring obviously to the kiss. Damn it! I should have noticed that they were watching.“This is so unfair spying on me!” I almost yelled when Grandma Smith silenced me, “Nonsense, child! We have better things to do than spy on our grandchild, right J?” She turned to Grandma J who grinned with both her hands in front of her like a kid, “Of course” I rolled my eyes at them before asking, “So what were you guys doing? If you weren't spying, how would you know about the kiss?”“Well…” Grandma Smith stated, “I wanted to leave…” “Yeah…?” “So we opened the door and saw you both kissing, we quickl
Annalise POVSince I left the hotel and got into Liam’s car, I have been smiling like a fool. I don’t know which of the events was making me smile so hard but I was happy, really happy, and relieved. All that happened tonight continues to fill my head and sometimes I end up giggling in the car. “Was the party that exciting?” Liam’s voice rang out pulling me out of my thoughts.“Why did you ask that?” I asked turning to face him and he raised his chin at my face,“You’ve been smiling since we left the hotel” and I pressed my lips together, the smile still lingering that my cheeks began to hurt. I wanted to hold it in but just couldn’t anymore,“You should see Elsa’s face, and Sasha just couldn’t believe I was the one who treated her husband. I can’t believe I feared those freaks while in school. They were just weaklings trying to use other people’s weaknesses and turn them into their strengths”“That’s the spirit” Liam grinned.The car suddenly went quiet again, everyone in their own
Liam's POVI stormed down the stairs with David at my heels, his fucking annoying protests falling on deaf ears. My eyes were locked on Annalise and the man who dared to put his hands on her. The sight of him embracing her so intimately fueled my jealousy and possessiveness to an uncontrollable level that surprised me so much. How did my feelings for her skyrocketed so much, I know I admire her, I love her kind of person and I respect her but all these? How? My feelings for her were just something I'm finding hard to understand and to make things more crazy, I don't know how to control it. As I neared the group, I could hear Elsa’s shrill voice cutting through the chatter, “You know, it’s funny how Annalise thinks she’s better than us now that fortune smiled on her, she can be a fucking heir but she's still the pathetic Annalise. Let me tell you something, everyone. That guy hugging her? He’s none other than her school crush! She was so pathetically in love with him that it was emba