BOSTON, USA
"I am here to love you." A man's deep voice came into Laura's ear, she could smell alcohol and then the smell of lovemaking. She felt like drowning in an ocean and then she saw a pair of Hazel eyes looking at her deeply.
For a moment, she felt like her soul was awakened by those eyes. She tried to imagine Augustus in that face but somehow that face changed into something she couldn't figure out as her body started moving slowly.
She felt the pain and pleasure, her muscles tightened and as she was close to losing herself she was awoken by her alarm clock voice.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
She hit it with her hand to stop, feeling irritated as she sat up and rubbed her sleepy eyes just to find Tina standing in the doorway staring at her.
"What? I am not a ghost." She snapped.
"Still didn't see his face?" She asked with a raised brow.
Laura shook her head in irritation and Tina sighed. "You're good to go. Today is the last day to remember." She reminded her.
Laura nodded as she stood up to get ready for her school.
The day went as normal as it always has been.
At night, Laura packed her stuff in a small suitcase as Tina sat on the sofa with a bowl of fruits.
"So you're finally leaving.."
Laura nodded her head as she was busy in packing her stuff.. "hmm"
Tina sighed sadly but Laura didn't notice her expression as she was busy packing her bag and finding her passport and all the necessary things she would need.
...
At the airport
Tina hugged Laura tightly as a tear dropped down from her eye. "I am going to miss you bitch.." she complained while slightly hitting her arm.
"I will be back soon." Laura comforted her.
"You have to, otherwise I would fly over to Rome to bring you back, do you understand?" She threatened her as Laura chuckled at her words.
"Yeah, I am sure of that."
As they both laughed, "Laura be strong and don't forget I am just a call away ok." Tina told her before she walked to check-in.
Laura thanked her wholeheartedly as she walked to check in and took her boarding pass. She felt heavy when she saw the words, "Rome, Italy" written on her pass. She touched it with her thumb as multiple memories came back into her mind.
...
FlashBack
After seeing Augustus's devastated look from being separated from his love, Lisa. Laura felt heart-stabbing pain, she never wanted Augustus to suffer like this.
She felt like her heart was bleeding painfully when she saw him broken. She went back to her sister's place and found out that she too was crying while missing Augustus.
She felt like a terrible person who has separated two beautiful souls and especially their unborn child who has not arrived yet.
She packed her bag with determination to leave Rome as soon as she could, she got a text from Grace before leaving. She was curious to know if Laura had succeeded in seducing Augustus and making him sleep with her.
Laura called her at the airport to tell her the decision she had made. Grace came over with a sullen face, she wasn't happy with Laura ordering her around.
She was just using Laura to destroy Lisa's happiness just the way she destroyed her happiness by taking away her brother's life.
She was full of rage and revenge, she would never forgive Lisa for what she had done.
"Why have you called me so late? And what is this?" Grace asked her unpleasantly and she was shocked too to see the small bag around her shoulder.
"I am leaving Rome." She told Grace firmly.
"But... why..?" She stuttered, her eyes looked shocked.
"Because I realized that what I am doing, I am not going to get anything except hurting the people I love the most."
"What nonsense?" Grace uttered the words without much thinking as she looked at Laura frowning at her.
"I mean, Augustus does love you. You just need to make him realize that." She quickly turned her tone gentle and tried to stop her from leaving.
"No... that isn't true," Laura shouted feeling tired and exhausted.
"I have seen everything with my own eyes. I am not a good person. I am destroying their life and so you are.. You better stop interfering in their lives otherwise I would tell Augustus that you were the one guiding me through these things." She warned her as Grace's face turned ugly.
"So you have called me here to threaten me?." Grace snorted as Laura replied back calmly.
"No, I don't dare to do that but you know Augustus is a capable person. If he knew about your intentions he would never let you live happily. So for your own happiness, leave them alone.."
“Huh… Fine..” Grace snapped at her angrily. “I will see how long you would be able to play that good woman role. Let’s see Laura for how long you could pretend. Don’t forget we all are bad in someone’s story. No matter how much you run away, one day you have to come back and face them.”
Grace was fuming in rage as she turned and left. She has chosen Laura as her pawn but now she has decided to step back. She is at a loss of what to do now? She should never have accepted anything from that useless woman.!
…
PRESENT
Laura opened her dizzy eyes as she heard the captain making an announcement of the plane taking off, she held her breath as she looked outside. The sun was shining brightly, an 8 hours flight was going to end and soon she would be standing at the airport where she had never thought of coming back so soon.
She felt heavy while remembering the past and most of it, she was afraid and nervous to face Augustus and her sister, Lisa. She had done so much wrong but still until now her sister had never complained to her instead she always made sure that Laura never blamed herself for the past and moved on from it.
She felt grateful as God has blessed her with such a good sister, a sister which cares for her more than her mother would ever do.
One Year Later“It’s a great honor to interview you Mr. Aldrich or I would say the prince?” A woman in her mid-thirties sat straight with a sharp face and a gentle smile as she began her interview.“Steven would be fine.”“So, Mr. Steven first of all congratulations on the success of your new foundation for cancer patients. This would be the third center you had built in one year. Is there any reason why you’re so passionate about it, saving lives?”“I had lost my wife because of cancer and didn’t want anyone else to lose their loved one because of it. The treatment at the right time saves many lives.”“Oh, deeply sorry to hear about your loss.”“Huh, it was never a loss for me.”“Pardon?”“Please continue.”“So Mr. Steven, what do you want to say about Miss Steva’s praises for you and your wife? It’s been 8
Steven’s bitter laugh echoed in the room and the man standing in front of him winced in discomfort.“I never wish pain for you, Steven. I was angry with you, but that didn’t mean that I would want to destroy your happiness… No… Never…”“So, then why was my happiness taken away from me, Dad, why…” Steven asked, disheartened, and then unexpectedly started crying out while hugging the painting in his arms.“Steven…” The Old Master rushed to him to console him but he looked inconsolable.“I am still hoping that it is a dream, tell me, dad, it’s a dream… I want to wake up, wake me up… Wake me up…” Steven said in a choked voice and then started hitting his face like a mad man, the painting dropped to the floor and it showed a bald, petite woman in the embrace of a man that looked like Steven.Old Master's eyes widened realizing that it was Stev
“Are you sure?” The doctor asked Laura as he handed her a paper.“I am,” Laura replied to him firmly but still he looked hesitant. “It’s going to be fine,” Laura said calmly and then scribbled on the papers.The doctor sighed helplessly and then nodded to the nurse indicating her for the surgery to get started.***“DO YOU LOVE ME?”“ALL OF ME?”“I LOVE YOU.”“LET ME GO.”It has been eight hours since Laura was taken inside the OT and Steven stayed glued to his place waiting for her to come back, her voice echoed in his ears and he kept shaking them away, tiredly.“Drink something, it will make them go…” Augustus said as he handed him a cup of warm coffee. Steven looked at him blankly and then nodding his head, he gulped it down.“She will be fine…” Augustus comforted him while sitting beside him.&ldqu
The dinner went well, Steven didn’t ask Laura anything related to Steva and neither did Laura say anything to him related to her or his past.The next day, Steven left with Laura early in the morning afraid that Tyler would try to stop him, he can’t ignore Tyler’s plea. In his eyes, he is still a child. He had already informed Arthur about his leaving so he would be able to convey his message to Tyler.After what happened last time at the beach he didn’t want to repeat it as he took Laura away from this place as soon as he can.“Here we are,” At the request of Laura, Steven had brought her to meet her mother. “Can you come after some time?” Laura requested Steven as she didn’t want him to go inside with her, she needed some alone time with her mother.“Laura…” Steven was going to refuse her request but Laura pleaded softly, “Please… Steve…”“Fine…
“STEVA."Laura looked from the woman’s shoulder and saw Steven standing behind her with a bottle of water in his hand. His face looked angry as he clenched his jaw and then started pulling Laura with him in a rough way.“Steve…” Laura was completely taken aback by the sudden anger in him but he turned a deaf ear as he kept dragging her with him to the castle not caring about her health.By the time, Laura entered the castle, she was panting heavily and in desperate need of oxygen, at this moment she wasn’t even able to form a word but gasping for air with difficulty.Looking at her state and his brother’s stern face, Tyler rushed to them with a worried face.“Brother, what happened to sister-in-law?” He asked anxiously and it was only then that Steven realized what he had done as he turned and exclaimed, “Laura…”Laura's body fell to the ground as soon as he let go of her hand and
PRESENT“Steve…?” Laura looked up at Steven who was lost in his past with his hand pressing on his chest as though he was feeling the pain from it.“Huh…” Steven’s trance from the past broke and he looked down at the small face of Laura.“It’s alright… It’s gone…” Laura said while taking his hand away from his chest.“Hmmm… but it still haunts me…” Steven confessed in a hoarse voice.“Steve, people can’t change their past you need to move on with it,” Laura told him and he sighed agreeing to her words.“You were just like me, remember the first time, when I saw you crying for Augustus in my room, I knew exactly at that moment that if I won’t help you, you would end up the same way I did. Maybe that is the reason I never wanted to leave your side and stay with you every time so you won’t end up regretting just li