1 - Nyx

Most people Fall in love, but only a few fall deeper in love. I, Nyx Jewel fall under the second category and I realized I am a very big fool at it when the medical report of my step-sister's confirmed pregnancy was flung at me by the man I have loved all my life while I watched him walk over to the table to pour himself a drink with my step sister right beside him.

The words he had just said still hung up in the air, making my heart sink. The familiar aches I have been accustomed to now began, but this time, much more intense.

Did I hear right? They both have a baby on its way? How is that possible? How ...?

I turn around to see him emptying the glass cup of wine while Flora clings on him like a leech. His movements were still graceful as always. Lyrien Kymani Thane.

He is my first crush and my first love. The only man I have chased after like an obsessive woman from college. He is a very handsome man with a confident aura around him. His brown eyes were enough to make me melt and his low, husky voice usually swept me off my feet.

He is the heartthrob of everyone in college. The smartest student who was respected and loved. Every lady had wanted him, but he had looked over to me on the last day of college and proposed right before everyone.

It was my biggest dream come true. The beginning of what I believe would be eternal. I love him with all my heart and when I introduced him to my parents and younger brother, Lyrien stole their hearts. It was like a match made from heaven, and nothing more could have been perfect, but then calamity struck when my mother died in a ghastly accident.

The beautiful, elegant lady Jewel fell, and the world mourned her sudden death. My younger brother, Casimiro, who was in the car accident with her, suffered a broken leg and back which crippled him forever.

This calamity didn't sit well with my father and me. The sudden death of my mother sent me to a sick bed where I was diagnosed with a heart disease. While my father tried his best to stay on his feet and care for us,

Lyrien was there, like a strong unwavering pillar to care for the business. He stood by us and made me feel loved.

After a few months in the hospital, I was discharged with a peculiar warning. I only have limited time to live. This hasn't only brought great sadness to my father, who had always looked up to me but has made him weak.

The Jewel Empire almost fell, but then, Dacy Wellington came through. She was introduced by My Uncle Ryker as a businesswoman from the opposing company, willing to join our firm and make Jewel more profitable. She is a very beautiful woman, smart at the same time that when my father announced he would marry her, I wasn't surprised.

While Casimiro didn't love the idea of our father marrying again, I bless his new Union with my pure heart.

With this new marriage, I got myself a stepmother and a step-sister, Flora.

Things went smoothly in the family for only a few months. My vibrant father, whom I thought would outlive me, suddenly goes down with a stroke. This illness was very mysterious. No one knows how he could become a vegetable overnight.

After my father's illness, he passed down all and every of his inheritance in the name of Jewel Empire, the most Prestigious company, down to my name. I became his heiress, a beautiful youngest billionaire but all these responsibilities come with a great price. I couldn't keep up with the pace. I am an internally ill lady. A meek one at that. So I made the biggest decision of my life.

I passed down all my inheritance to Lyrien Kymani Thane. He is the love of my life after all. He would never betray me. So I thought foolishly, but now I realise I am the dumbest person alive. He had stabbed me at a time I had never seen coming. He dares to impregnate my stepsister.

Now I watched as he sat down on the chair, his gorgeous brown eyes on me while my step-sister kissed him from behind.

" I trusted you " The words fell from my lips as tears, bitter tears trailed down my cheek. " I trust you, Lyrien. With my everything. Why... Why did you do it? "

" Because you Jewels never worth it " The familiar voice of my uncle came from the darkness, and I shuddered.

Slowly the silhouette revealed itself to be my father's younger brother. The professional doctor in one of the hospitals under the name of Jewel Empire.

He was the doctor who had operated on my mother after the accident, the same one who had pronounced her dead. His words had also sealed my younger brother's fate, declaring him crippled forever. I recalled the documents he had signed, stating my father had developed a stroke. And the most personal blow was his diagnosis that I suffered from heart disease.

My heart suddenly skipped a beat, and I whirled around to Lyrien to see he was smirking.

" You are not a fool after all. Now you get it all, " He whispers as he stands up from the chair he sat on. " Do not worry, Nyx. Your company and your family will be in safe hands "

" Casimiro will be sent to an asylum while your father will be taken to the Eldercare home ", Dacy's voice came through. My stepmother.

She walked up towards my uncle and before my very eyes, they both shared a kiss. Now I see it all. The pieces began to fall into place.

Lyrien Kymani Thane had never loved me and Dacy Wellington has never loved my father. Uncle Ryker has always been a traitor, eager to destroy the Jewel family and take over the Jewel Empire.

The truth crushed me; its weight was too much for my heart to bear. Suddenly, I dropped to my knees, blood spewing from my mouth. A toxic mix of fear and agony engulfed my heart, suffocating me. I struggled to rise, but my efforts were in vain.

I am dying. It dawns on me when the blood continues to ooze out from my mouth, and instead of a doctor to be called, Lyrien walks up to me. His presence was a twisted mockery amidst my suffering.

" In your next life, Dear Nyx, try not to fall in love "

Lyrien's whisper sent shivers down my spine and with those haunting words, he lifted my limp body and tossed me off the terrace.

The terrace hung precariously over the sea, its stone foundation seemingly rooted in thin air. Beneath it, the waves crashed against the rocks, a deadly abyss waiting to swallow me whole.

As I dropped towards the water, Lyrien's parting words echoed in my mind. Tears fell, but it was too late. They won. My body splashed into the sea, and the torrent swept me away while Lyrien's triumphant grin etched in my memory forever.