*Vivienne*My heart is racing, each thud reverberating in my chest, drowning out the ambient sounds of the medical machines and the soft murmur of conversations playing out around me. It has been a long time since I last heard from this stalker. It had been almost as if he had forgotten about me. But I guess not. He was there at the guesthouse. He had seen me. Just then, an insistent vibration in my pocket jolted me back to the present. I took out my phone and stared at the anonymous number flashing on my screen. My breath quickened, shallow and rapid, as if the very act of inhaling could pull me deeper into this nightmare. I blinked repeatedly as I tried to focus on the faces around me, but their expressions kept blurring into a wash of confusion and concern. I felt detached, as if I was watching from a distance, a ghost in my own life.A hand touched my shoulder and I jumped, a small squeak escaping my lips. Nick flinched away from me and threw his hands up in the air. “Hey, i
*Liam*“What's the occasion, you seem happy today,” Ryder started.My head swiveled towards him, my upper lip curled up in blatant astonishment. “What do you mean today? I've always been happy.”Ryder gazed at me and shook his head. “No, something feels different about you. You have this air around you that says something good happened.”Hiding a smile, I stuck my hands into my pocket and just shrugged. “I don't understand what you are trying to say, Ryder.”From the corner of my eye, I glimpsed him narrowing his eyes at me. “Something sure does feel different, I just know it,” he affirmed firmly, his voice filled with suspicion. I looked down at the floor of the elevator and smirked. Of course, I feel different. Last night had been a deal breaker for me and Vivienne, it was just like we had taken another step forward in our relationship. A positive one. I brushed a thumb across my lower lip, reminiscing about the way she tasted in my mouth. Her scent, her taste…everything was lite
*Liam*“I killed her… just like I killed the others,” she uttered. I went closer to her, my heart sinking at her words. “No, Angel eyes, it’s not your fault,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper, but the words seemed to dissolve in the air. She shook her head, her breath hitching as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. “No, Liam. I did kill them,” she choked out tearfully. “I should have been there for them. I— I could have done something.”My heart ached for her. I knelt in front of her, my hands trembling as I reached out to touch her shoulder. “Angel eyes—”She jerked away from me and stood up. “You don't get it, Liam!” she yelled, more tears streaming down her face. “I, Vivienne Reynolds, killed my family because I wasn't even there when they needed me the most!” she added, hitting her chest with so much vigor.“My father? He committed suicide because he couldn't bear the social backlash from the scandal that I caused. My younger brother was bullied in school because of me
*Vivienne*Four days had passed since the death of my mother but everything still felt like a dream. Time and time again, I would constantly murmur to myself that it was just a bad dream. One that would go away if I would just wake up. But when I eventually wake up the next morning, the reality of everything that has happened dawns on me. I was now all alone in this world. I remembered crying so hard the night that Liam found me in my apartment but after that night, I seemed to have locked up my feelings. I went numb.I didn't want to feel anything. I was numb even when my mother's corpse was later found among the debris from the fire. And when I had gone to see the body in order to identify it, I was unable to form any word or reaction. It was as if everything inside me had dried up. I just stood there, the sight of her mutilated form etching itself into my mind, a haunting contrast to the beautiful, cheerful woman I had always known even when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer
*Vivienne*My heart stopped beating, my throat closing up with horror as my eyes slightly widened.“Fr… from back ho…home?” I stuttered, my throat dry. Liam nodded in confirmation and sighed. “At least, that's what he said. Does anyone come to mind?”My heartbeat started again but this time, it was irregular. My forehead was probably shining with a sheen of sweat though it would be barely visible in the car. I counted up to ten in my head and then slowly shook my head. “Nobody at all,” I answered with a shaky breath. Liam gazed at me and then reached forward and then briefly grabbed my hand. “Don't worry about it, I'm sure the person is just some paparazzi,” he tried reassuring me with a gentle smile. I cut my eyes at him and looked out the window instead, my insides growing shallow and tight. No, it was surely somebody from home. I could just feel it. I bit down hard on my lower lip, my mind racing with several chaotic thoughts. How did the person find me? For the past decade,
*Vivienne*My brother’s eyes widened in disbelief, but Liam didn’t let go. Instead, he twisted Dean's wrist, applying just enough pressure to make him wince.A sharp gasp escaped Dean's lips, quickly morphing into a scream that echoed in the streets. “Stop! Let him go!” I cried out, stepping forward, my heart racing. I didn’t want things to escalate any further. Liam maintained his grip, his dark, angry eyes locked onto my brother’s, a silent message passing between them. “This isn’t the way to talk with your sister,” he uttered, his tone calm but authoritative, grounding the situation. I looked back at my brother and watched as he writhed in pain, I could see the anger in his eyes fading, replaced by a flicker of fear and hate.“Am I clear, mister?” Liam asked and when Dean kept shut, he twisted his wrist again making him whimper in pain. “Words, mister.”Dean's head bobbed up and down in frantic desperation, his face contorted into a grimace. “Yes, yes!” he blurted out.After a t
*Vivienne*Silence. Silence now seemed to be the only thing accompanying me these days. Maybe it was because I felt dead inside ever since that night. The night I told Liam my deepest, darkest secret. I could vividly remember the way he froze, his eyes widening as he just stared at me. He didn't utter a word. He never did. Because the exact moment he opened his mouth to talk, his phone began to ring and a few moments later, he had to leave the country to shoot his new TV series. I remembered tossing in my bed, unable to sleep even after I had thrown some sleeping pills down my throat. Then after, I cried and later ended up sleeping that way. I glanced at my phone and stared at the dark, blank screen. I wondered what he thought of me now, would he see me as a murderer now?Technically speaking, I am a murderer but somehow, the thought of Liam viewing me that way made my heart ache. For the briefest of moments, a tingle of regret reverberated in my chest, maybe I should have hel
*Vivienne*My brows met together in a deep frown. “What?”Mrs. Pryce glanced at me. “He didn't tell you, did he?” he whispered in a small voice. “Typical.”What the hell was this woman saying?Clause?Relationship?I shook my head. “No, I mean, why are you so sure that Liam and I are in a relationship?”Sure, we have indulged in a hardcore foreplay and make out session but that doesn't mean we were in a relationship… right?Mrs. Pryce glanced at me, amusement glinting in her eyes. “You are so naive, Ms. Reynolds, and it's not even a cute look on you,” she said. “Relationships don't usually entail that you have to put a label on whatever you guys are doing. The tabloids and newspapers are living proof that you guys are living together and possibly fucking each other's brains out. That's the only conviction that the board of directors and shareholders would see and hold.”I frowned, my mind snagging on one thing she's said. “Tabloids and newspapers? I don't remember any articles—”“That