It was late into the winter; the full moon was high up in the sky as it's bright, white rays shone over the darkness which engulfed the earth.
Ayla was busy admiring the view before her, settled down on a recliner on the terrace. Her feet were stretched in the air, resting on the glass walls which lined the boundary. A book was sprawled open in her hands, but her eyes were lost somewhere else. Every single thought that crossed her mind was related to only one person: Claude.
As if on instinct, her hand reached forward to her phone which was resting on a marble top next to the recliner. Swiping her thumb across the screen, she unlocked it to check on the notifications. There were many unread messages waiting for her reply but she could care less about them. Most of them were either from her newfound friends who were way more socializing than she could ever wish to be. Or they were from some random brands, announcing their latest d
"I am talking about the Young Master…"It took Ayla a couple of minutes to allow the old man's words to settle in her mind. Drawing in a deep breath, she took a couple of steps forward before making her way back inside."You are not joking with me right now, are you?" She muttered out, glancing over her shoulder as the old man trailed behind her."No, Young Mistress." He shook his head. "Why would I joke about something like that?" He smiled to himself as he kept following the lady who seemed a little too eager to meet his Young Master. Though it was only understandable given the time they had spent apart."When did he arrive exactly? Why didn't he call me? How is he? He is okay, no?" Uttering out a couple of questions, she walked out of the room rather hastily. She was somewhat thankful for the fact that she wasn't staying inside Claude's room or else the old butler wo
"I wish I could say the same about you…""Excuse me?" Ayla threw her a puzzled glare, thinking that she might have misheard her. As much as she wanted to, it would be wrong on her part to just assume something worse about their guest."You heard me right, woman." The lady, Selene, kept on goading her. "I have heard about you. It's really hard to keep things to yourself when you are a part of 'our' world."It didn't go unnoticed by Ayla how she was emphasizing the word 'our'. Holding back her grimace, Ayla gave her a small smile in return. "And your point is?" She crossed her arms across her chest, trying her best to glance in the man's direction who was doing nothing but sitting idly when some random woman was doing her best at humiliating his wife. The very wife he had promised to protect and cherish."My point is that you should just keep to yourself for as long as this mar
"Hey, Ethan." Ayla stepped inside the dining hall, all dressed up and ready to leave at the earliest. "How are you doing?" She walked around the table to settle down in the seat next to the man in question, deliberately ignoring everyone else. "Good, I guess. What about you though?" He beamed down at her as he began to pass her some of the dishes. "Meh!" She shrugged it off, not wanting to go into the details. She was barely able to get some sleep last time and spent most of it tossing and turning around. "I have been better." She muttered under her breath as her thoughts drifted to the reason behind her restlessness. It was the man who had promised to do right by her. But there she was, doing everything in her power to avoid even looking in his direction. "You alright? Everything okay?" He drew his brows together and looked around the table. It was only now that he was able to detect the tension
"What is wrong with that man?"All of her frustration came pouring out as soon as she made it to the confines of Ethan's car. She didn't even wait for him to settle into the driver's seat."If only I knew." Ethan let out a sigh as he turned on the ignition."What happened back there for him to be acting out like this, Ethan? You better have an explanation for me." It was one of the reasons she wanted Ethan to come pick her up. The drive would give them the perfect excuse to get to talking about the matter without making it to the headlines."I wish I knew, Ayla." Ethan shook his head as he pulled the car out of the driveway. "Boss seemed a little lost a day after we arrived at the hotel, but I thought it must be the workload getting to him. I mean, the deal wasn't an easy one to secure and it meant a lot for the company and its future.""So, you are tellin
[Two days later.]"And where might you be going?"Ayla's feet were brought to a halt at the sudden interruption by her uncalled guest, Selene. She barely glanced in her direction and chose to shrug it off. "What does it have to do with you?" She muttered before continuing with her walk down the entrance hall, dragging her suitcase along.But her words and actions weren't enough to ward off the evil that was trailing behind, closer than what Ayla would have preferred."From the looks of it, you are all prepared to leave for good. Finally." Selene didn't bother to hide how pleased she was seeing the events unfold before her."Keep on dreaming, woman. I am only going away for a couple of days." Ayla couldn't help the scoff which left her throat. Giving Selene the satisfaction of winning this round was the last thing she would want.
"What does that woman think of herself!" Ayla yelled on top of her lungs, enjoying the little freedom she has managed to earn for herself for a couple of days. Her eyes jumped from one thing to another around the room as she tried her best to gather her thoughts. "How would I know about that?" Katherine's voice echoed through the room, coming out of Ayla's phone as it rested in the middle of the queen sized bed. Ayla had left the call on speaker so that she wouldn't end up tossing her phone to the ground in anger. "In that case please tell me that you have an explanation for your brother's behaviour?" No matter how hard she was trying to divert her attention to the case study, her thoughts would end up straying down the very path she wanted to avoid. "I wish I did, Ayla. I am still in shock after you told me how that little piece of sh*t has been roaming around the mansion as if she owned the plac
Showing her ID card to the bouncer at the entrance, Ayla pushed her wrist in his direction, allowing him to stamp it. It was the first time that she was using the entrance meant for the public instead of just walking straight inside. Well, that was one of the perks she got to enjoy for being with someone as powerful as Claude. That, and the fact that he knew the owner of the place.Brushing off her though, Ayla stepped inside the place which seemed to be much more crowded than the last time she was here. Her eyes roamed around the place as she searched for a certain someone. According to the text she had received from Ethan earlier in the day, Claude was meeting a new investor here. She couldn't help but wonder why he would do that in a club, especially at this hour."Excuse me. Hey." She greeted the bartender as soon as she settled down on one of the empty barstools."What can I get you, Ma'am?" He replied t
Half an hour and five drinks later, Ayla was starting to feel a little tipsy. Though she still hadn't given up on getting to meet Claude."Asher…" Her partially slurred words came out of her stretched lips as she stared back at Asher with her doe eyes. "Pretty please." She pursed her lips together as she hoped to work her innocent charm on the man who was standing across the bar."Why would you want to ruin a business meeting for him?" Asher shook his head and leaned over the bar. "That's not going to do you any good.""B-but, I only want to see him. I haven't come across face to face with him in days. Quite literally." She mumbled it out before burying her face in her palms. "I miss him… like a lot." Her muffled words came out like a sad plea."Did the two of you fight?" Asher could not hold back his curiosity. "You better be honest with me, girl, if you want me to sp