Chapter Sixty-Six – Belittled. “How did he know the middle school I attended? Was he my classmate?” Arya wondered while standing outside. The door to the hotel closed and she rushed towards it. “Okay.” was all she could reply with. She wasn’t feeling very excited to talk anymore if he was truly someone from her past – a haunting traumatizing past that she should have gotten over by now. Her mind kept going back to it. She watched Master Ken curve to the reception table, possibly to get a room in the hotel. Her eyes darted around, searching for an avenue to run to her room. Talking about her middle school was the last thing she needed now. But Ken walked back to her seconds after. “Don’t you remember attending Melissa’s Middle School? It hasn’t been that long.” Ken asked with an eyebrow raise. His tone was condescending and Arya frowned. “Of course I do. What do you want to know about them.” She wasn’t happy responding but she wasn’t liking his tone either. Did he always talk
Chapter Sixty-Seven – Call. After a long hot shower, Arya was ready to hit the sack. The middle school flashback she had and Ken’s belittling words didn’t worry her anymore. The fact that Damien was truly in love with her and she still being the groups' main target were her new problems. However, she didn’t want to ponder much on it and just go to sleep. As for being the main target, if she skips school and stay at home, they’d have no way of harming her. But as for Damien’s love for her, she’d just see how it goes. With the current happenings, his eyes will be on her so she couldn’t run away from any interaction. Just as she laid her head to sleep, her phone began to ring. She glared at the object, waiting for it to stop but it went on. The two most important people in her life, Winx and Anna, knew of the situation she was in and she had informed them not to call her by any chance. Whoever was calling would be someone unimportant in her life. She wasn’t about to pass on her sl
Chapter Sixty-Eight – Dark House. Aunt Jenna made a small victory dance around the room then exhaled. “Now, it’s up to Debby.” She grabbed Mr. Stark’s phone and switched it off. “Incase the bitch tries calling him.” She glanced at Mr. Stark who was on the bed, naked and asleep. Aunt Jenna was wearing no clothes herself. She smiled to herself and went back to bed with him. Junior tried dialing a driver’s line but he was stopped by Arya just in time. “What are you doing?” she asked. “We’d get caught and sent back inside.” His eyes widened and he nodded quickly. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s walk all the way… are we going to walk all the way?” For one, he didn’t exactly know where Arya was heading to. She breathed in and out before marching towards the bus station. “We’d take the bus. Let’s do this and hurry back.” Junior had never taken the bus before, he excitedly agreed, walking ahead of Arya. “You’d handle the bus fees. I don’t know a thing about taking a bus.” The bus arrived five minu
Chapter Sixty-Nine – In secret.Damien pulled his tie lose and spun around on his chair. That was a tough one. Thankfully, the governor wasn’t oppressed by the attack and still wanted the project to go on. His only problem were the governor’s allies that were skeptical about it as they feared the Wades' enemies will target them as well. All they needed was inspiration speech, mixed with some belittling of them for giving into their fears of terrorists and they quickly agreed to work with him again. “My bad habits are returning.” Damien sighed. “But at least, this time, it ended well, really well.” He smiled in relief. There was a knock on the door. He paused. “Come in.” His mother walked in. Damien sprang to his feet. “Mom?”She exhaled, and smiled. “How are doing? This was a second attack from those people, wasn’t it?” His eyes darkened and he looked down. The last thing he wanted was his mom finding out who was attacking and worrying about it. If she also knew more details
Chapter Seventy – Locked.Arya couldn’t feel her legs.Something really heavy were on them. Or maybe they weren’t there anymore. But feelings on her legs were definitely gone. As she laid there, feeling weak and crippled all over, her mind went back to the last events. The dark house, the kitchen door, the gas. “Connor.” She mumbled. “Connor, where are you?” He had been with her when it all happened. The last thing she remembered was she yelling at him to lie down but he dragged her out of the kitchen and farther, towards the extreme room. The explosion had still affected them, though in her current state, she couldn’t determine to what degree they got affected. Someone groaned below her legs. Her eyes widened. “Connor?” where was he exactly. Something began moving from her legs, then she saw Connor fall back to the ground. “Huh, you were on my legs?! Get up! I thought I lost them or maybe a block fell on it.” Connor attempted rising again but this time fell on his back, away
Chapter Seventy-One – Till death. Connor regretted not telling Arya, long ago, who exactly her enemy was. “She’s not here to help, Arya. She’s the menace.”The menace? Arya couldn’t gully grasp what Connor meant. But with Debby’s laughter, she knew it wasn’t a good sign. “Then, what are you doing here if it’s not to help us. How did you even get in…” And then her dumb brain cells transfigured. She realized. “Debby Chan! Did you do all this?!” She pointed at her. Wasn’t it the doing of her Aunt Jenna? Debby stopped laughing and cocked her head. “Did you just realize, idiot! I can’t believe you are the one Damien married!” It was a blow to Arya’s already weak heart. The sixteen year old in front of her was the cause of her house’s explosion! “Debby, if you liked Damien that much, why are you attacking his business projects. Not very sweet of you, is it?” Connor glared at her. Arya swerved her head from him to Debby. Was she involved in that too? The two explosions? How'd she ge
Chapter Seventy-Two – Real Him. Damien passed the speed limit before slowing down again. He hoped no police car drove behind his. They shouldn’t try to stop him, for their own sakes. He wasn’t in the mood. His eyes went to his laptop that showed him where Arya was. Where her phone was at, exactly. It hadn’t move for long so he was beginning to worry, she wasn’t with it. Why did she leave the hotel? And without telling anybody? She knew she was a target so why make such a mistake. And was she with Connor? He’d feel less worried if she was. But Connor might have gone to a friend’s house and Arya was all alone. Did they have a place they two can go together? “I can’t even think straight!” he groaned, accelerating again. He tried Connor’s line for the first time and it didn’t go. His eyes widened. That was very unusual. Connor recently bought a phone and he would be everywhere with it. “The phone is said to be switched off while Junior is away? He’d never switch his phone off when
Chapter Seventy-Three – Breakdown. There was a crash on the gate. Arya and Connor flew from where they were seated. What was that? It sounded like something struck the gate, attempting to pull it down. “Arya! Junior!!” They heard Damien’s voice. Arya tried running to the gate but stopped when Connor didn’t follow. “Come on…” He leaned on a wall, covering his face. “Thank goodness.” For a minute, Arya stood in silence, watching him. He looked so relieved like he had been holding in his fear all the while. Why didn’t she think of it? He might have been acting brave for her sake. She already had her own mental breakdown while he was just a kid. A kid who nearly died from explosion and then was harassed by a crazy bitch. His mental health would be shattered. The gate was broken into and a car drove in. Arya ran out to show Damien where they were. “We are here! Connor is…” Damien pulled her to himself immediately. “You’re safe.” Arya froze, nearly not breathing from his tight em
Chapter Ninety-Eight – Interest. It was the second wedding Arya was attending but the first she was feeling really excited about. It was Anna’s wedding. The reception had taken place immediately and ran out to look for Connor. He was with her phone and she needed to take lot’s of pictures of Anna. She has to show them to Winx who couldn’t attend the wedding due to her injury. Arya wished Jim could have taken it back so Winx would attend as a bridesmaid but the groom was in so much haste to marry his bride. One of the reasons being that he had to return to his base as soon as possible. Arya finally caught sight of Connor with some girls. Should she walk over to him or just let him be? She wasn’t sure. He once told her how he grew more popular at school after his issue with the reporters went viral. All she hoped was he didn’t repeat it again, it might take a different turn. Thankfully, Connor turned around to look at something and noticed her watching him. “My phone
Chapter Ninety-Seven – Paired up. Lucy had heard the news on the radio. The part she didn’t hear, however, was how her mother was the murderer of Juliet Marbles, her aunt. How in the world? Lucy was still fighting with the fact her mother conspired to kill Arya, she was hoping her mother was still her mother while holding on the fact she wasn’t the mastermind. But to think she had actually masterminded and perfectly executed the murder of her own sister years ago? It blew Lucy’s mind away. Everyone at the work place was talking about Debby and Winx issue while Lucy racked her brain over her mother’s. It was revealed that one of Debby’s accomplice had been caught, while the other escaped. No name was mentioned. Lucy knew she was safe even still because her mom didn’t share her surname. She divorced her father and went to Mr. Stark so decided to go back to her maiden name. “And to think that Mr. Stark was also killed.” Lucy shivered. Her mother had really gone down a dang
Chapter Ninety-Six – Parting gift. Winx accepted to be a witness to keep Deborah Chan in rehab. Many protesters wanted her to be kept in jail despite her being a minor. She was losing fans by the minute. The media had caught whiff of what happened because a popular celebrity had been in the boutique when it happened, while shooting a video for her fans. She also witnessed that Debby just walked into the store then went after the girls. The identity of the other girl wasn’t necessary to the media, they only wanted to know why the genius attempted murder. Also, it seemed they forgot Debby was once acquainted to the Wades or they’d begin asking barrages of questions. Meanwhile, while detained, Debby desisted from answering unnecessary questions. All she said was she didn’t regret going after the girl because she wanted her dead. The girl being Arya but to the masses, Winx. Debby’s reason was unknown and since there was no prior relationship between Winx and Debby, the med
Chapter Ninety-Five – Sorry end. Chen broke into boisterous laughter, then he pointed the knife at Aunt Jenna and slowly menacingly towards her. “You want to meet your man?" He scoffed."Didn’t we both have a deal? You should protect the woman I love and I’d not harm your loved ones, right?” Jenna’s eyes shook. What ever did he mean by that? Had something happened to his loved one? Had Debby been caught? And even if she wanted to, how did he expect her to protect Debby when she was Debby’s hostage? And between she and Debby, she needed protection against Debby than she needed to protect the girl. Aunt Jenna looked at the blood on his knife, and her stomach turned. Who did that belong to? “I-I don’t understand you.” Did something happen? “Well, Since it has come to this, I’d flee the country, never to return here.” Chen seethed. “But you, the police will come for you next.” Next? Jenna realized what had happened. Debby must have been captured. “Did you go after her? Those
Chapter Ninety-Four – Last Card Arya arrived at the Wades’ Mansion. Kane dropped her then drove out again, without speaking. She knew his head would be filled already. She slowly walked into the living room but was immediately embraced by someone. She patted Connor’s back when she realized it was him. A part of her wanted to see Damien first. Kane had called home to inform them what happened. When Connor let go, Arya saw that Damien wasn’t home yet. “Are you alright? And was it really Debby?” Selena asked quite agitated. It's the first time she showed concern for her. Arya smiled, nodding. “Yeah, it was her. Winx protected me and was stabbed at her right collar bone. The nurse said she’d be okay though. It was very sudden.” Selena gasped, rubbing her face. “Winx. My poor girl. I can’t still believe Debby became this selfish, became this monster!” Mrs. Wade just had a sour expression, looking down at her hands. “Arya, go and rest. This incident must be frightening.”
Chapter Ninety-Three – Fear. The dark circles under her eyes had increased, along with the heaviness of her eyes and her heart. Debby didn’t know if she was still alive because she felt so dead. She could hardly walk around in public for fear that the police could be unto her. And she really needed to stroll. “Chen?” she called but no one answered. Since he spoke to her, asking her intent on killing Arya, he had been distant after she didn’t give a satisfactory response. Had he left her alone too? She just wanted that bitch dead. Why was it too much to do? Why didn’t anyone get her? She slammed her hand at the desk and screamed. “Arya, I’d kill you if it’s the last thing I do!! Bitch!!” The fact that she was somewhere, excited and with Damien made her furious. Damien rarely showed excitement with her, how was he able to open up with Arya within a short time? Debby grabbed Chen’s hoodie and forced it on her body. She needed to move out and plan her next attack. She had been to
Chapter Ninety-Two – I’d stay.But why did it feel like a miracle she stayed in the marriage? Arya wondered if he didn’t expect her to stay. “Did you plan to divorce me?” she asked jokingly. “Ah no. I actually thought you’d find someone else. You know, the contract permits you to.” Connor smirked. Arya shrugged. “I thought so too but…” she paused. Wait! He knew about the contract marriage?? She grabbed his shoulder and shook him. “You knew about it? How?” Damien would definitely not have told him. “I married you, you know. I had gotten curious and read the contract during the court marriage.” He revealed. Arya clenched her teeth. Then all these while, he knew their marriage wasn’t real? Did he tell anyone? Even when she had asked him from relationship advice. She felt so stupid. “Well, I was bent on making it work out, though. So I didn’t tell anyone about it, if that’s what you’re worried about.” he added with a pat on her back. Her expression changed to a sober one. He wante
Chapter Ninety-One – Wedding She had been having second thoughts about lots of things lately. It was partly Debby’s fault, but the other, hers. Arya washed her face with water then left the restroom. Winx was waiting for her, she stared at her best friend and smiled. “Something’s been on your mind.” She had been noticing her stalling or standing at a place, lost in thoughts. “No shit, of course.” Arya agreed with a smirk. “I don’t want to talk about it, though. I’d like to sort this out myself.” She always had a way of sorting out her emotions, the ones she needed and the ones she didn’t. Crying and feeling overly excited weren’t things she grew up doing due to her strict father so she didn’t have time to ponder about strange feelings. “Wouldn’t it be weird if I liked Damien now after trying to stay away from him for months?” She muttered to herself. But could she do anything about what she felt? She was matured enough to like someone. Only that her feelings for Damien were qu
Chapter Ninety – Satisfaction.Jenna tried the knob of the door but it didn’t still open. It’s been hours since Chen left to check on Debby. She sighed, plopping down on the bed besides her. The only thing in the room. She had ended up being kidnapped and forced to be an accomplice. Her current situation was far worse than she could contain. She was beginning to harbor thoughts of turning herself to the police, after all, Stark, who she was hiding her dark side from was already involved. Chen had drugged him for days, keeping him unconscious. Jenna knew it wasn’t healthy but she had no say as Stark had seen Chen when he came to her house to drop instructions and he began asking questions. The both of them were basically hostages at the moment. She hadn’t been able to contact Lucy while Debby had been sending strange letters to her. “I don’t want Lucy to get involved, really.” She groaned. “If only there was a way to reach the outside world now.” She regretted everything. Her h