Chapter 1: A Surprise Visit

Life is all about positivity and happiness. Not everybody can achieve big things and that's why the smaller things matter too. Eliza Harper had it all, from growing up in a wealthy family to building her name in the business industry, she was living her best life.

"I think I look pretty decent," Eliza smiled at her image that she had made suitable for the special day it was. She couldn't believe it's been a whole year that Noah had proposed to her.

With a simple gesture to her driver, she was ready to go see her boyfriend for their one-year anniversary.

Noah and Eliza had a great relationship, no unnecessary brawls or no arguments over not being able to spend too much time together due to Eliza's commitments to her father's company.

Her eyes were fixated on the road as the driver sped to Eliza's first stop of the day; the flower shop.

Although Noah had consigned their anniversary to oblivion, it didn't stop Eliza from making a plan to surprise him with a fresh red rose bouquet, a cake, and a new car.

"Wait, I'll be back in a minute." she smiled at the driver very sweetly and helped herself out of the car. Her positivity could bring smiles to anyone's ruined mood.

She walked inside and paid for the bouquet she had ordered on phone. To her, every little task was indelible for their future together. She could have easily assigned her assistant to do these tasks for her, but then what would be the point if she couldn't go and pick the things up for her beloved Noah?

She wanted him to feel special and she was ready to push her commitments to the side for a day.

Just when she had grabbed the cake, her cellphone rang in her purse. A smile crept over her lips as her heart missed a beat, Noah must have remembered the specialty of this day, she thought.

Pulling her phone out of her purse, she got a tiny bit disappointed to see no texts or missed calls from Noah. It was her father who had summoned her.

She dialed his number back while playing with a petal from the rose bouquet in her lap.

"Hey Dad, good morning!" she greeted sweetly and calmly.

"Good morning Eliza!" Tom Harper, the man who has made his name with his hard work and his flawless work ethic, replied in a rather rough tone.

"Woah! You okay dad?" she picked up the disturbance in her father's voice in a flash.

They shared a beautiful father-daughter bond, and whenever one of them was going through something, the other would know instantly.

"We have a very important meeting today, and guess who am I missing? The most crucial employee, my own daughter." the way Tom announced his concerns to Eliza, she couldn't help but snicker at how dramatic her father was.

"I'll be there don't you worry. I just wanted to spend this special morning with Noah." the thought of Noah's eyes observing her with love, his sweet talks, and skin chilling whispers in her ears blessed her skin with a sensation of goosebumps.

"And let me guess, he didn't wish you an anniversary, right?" Tom didn't hate Noah; he just had some issues with how careless he could be at times towards Eliza's feelings. As a caring father, he had all the rights to question Noah for not giving Eliza the same importance she gave him.

"It's fine Dad, you don't have to rile up over such a small thing. Some people are just not very good at remembering things like these. And, I never set a bar too high, I've low expectations, father. Life has already blessed me with so much that complaining about such a small issue makes me feel like an entitled person." Eliza didn't feel like bringing attention to her emotions ever and somewhere in that process Noah had become obtuse to her feelings.

"I don't know, lately you have been putting more into this relationship than he is. And I understand you are an adult, and independent woman as you say, but don't let anyone mistreat you or disregard your emotions." Tom couldn't believe all these years of Eliza growing as a thriving businesswoman he failed to notice she was always murdering her innocent little desires of being treated well.

"I'm fine, it's fine." was all she could utter in her response.

"Okay, I'm outside his house, I'll talk to you later." She hung up on her dad once the driver parked the car in front of his house.

She managed to hold the bouquet, the cake, and the gift in her hands, dismissing to take any help as it was her boyfriend and she aimed to do everything herself for him.

Her eyes quickly scanned Noah's neighbor's front yard and a heave of sigh left her lips when she didn't see the creepy old man there.

Noah's old neighbor had always been inappropriate towards Eliza, she was a fine young lady, and where ever she went, she grabbed attention.

Holding all the stuff in her hands, she debated to herself over how was she going to ring the bell. Well, a little surprise to her that the door was already unlocked.

The frown made a v between her brows as she scrutinized the partially opened door. Pondering in her head, if Noah knew about her arrival or did, he leave it open inattentively, she paused in her steps for a moment.

"Wait! He knew I would be coming," she whispered to herself, a smile forced its way into her lips as she recalled he did ask her if she was going to come over for tonight last night.

The innocence of him not being able to demand her to come over smitten her over him.

"And father says Noah doesn't care," she shook her head at the anecdotes of today's world, where the person who is most vocal gets the admiration over the people who are not good at expressing their emotions publicly; people like her and Noah.

Eliza made her way into the house but only to be taken aback by the darkness it was engulfed in. She dropped the bags on the couch, the bouquet on the table but by the time she had made up her mind to place the cake, her eyes caught something.

There were roses on the floor, the petals were scattered all around the living area leading up to his room. She covered her mouth with one hand and giggled inside in shock.

"He remembered?" she smiled, almost ready to shed tears as slowly she began to pick up the details of his small house. He had decorated it for her, there were candles that had been melted down completely by now, indicating that he had waited the whole night for her.

Noah knew Eliza was an independent, hardworking lady, maybe that's why he couldn't ask her to pay him a visit so he left the whole decision in her hands while he waited the whole night for her.

The feeling of being wanted somewhere you find peace in left Eliza misty-eyed. She smiled like a silly, looking around while holding the cake in her hands.

"Oh! I love you, babe," she babbled under her breath.

She has to go wake him up so that they can spend some time together before she heads back to the office. 

As she swirled her body around to amble towards his room, her eyes fall upon a bag. The tiger stripes pattern looked way too familiar. It didn't her long to recognize this bag, the owner of the bag was none other than Noah's childhood bestie Taylor Wilson. She was one problematic person that Eliza didn't feel comfortable around.

Taylor would always compare herself to Eliza even when the dynamic of both the girl's relationship with Noah was different. 

"What is this bag doing here?" The smile from moments ago had vanished by then, Eliza's eyes were glued at the bag. 

She kept thinking why this bag was here?

After Taylor had caused enough issues in between them, Noah had dropped her out to pursue his romantic relationship with Eliza without having to always come between them to break the arguments. 

Eliza too thought Taylor had feelings for Noah and despite asking Noah many times if he felt the same about her, he refused to answer her by giving Taylor a tag of She is only a friend

Eliza was shaken awake from the thoughts she had drowned by a weird noise coming from his room. Eliza skeptically watched the room's door as her heartbeat slowed down. 

Those weren't just any noises, those were sounds of pleasure. Eliza, who was still holding the cake in her hands, reached the door with a heavy heart. She knew her poor heart was going to be shattered today, she knew she was going to discover something that would change her life.

And she was not wrong! 

As she gently pushed the door open, before her was the most horrifying and disgusting sight to see.

Taylor was in his bed, the same bed Eliza had slept with Noah, completely unclothed and on top of her was Noah. They were in the process of finishing.

Eliza could see this wasn't their first session from last night. So, this was why he wanted to make sure if Eliza planned on coming over last night. 

All the preparations were for Taylor. Her Heart skipped a beat when Noah grunted loudly as he finished inside Taylor. His pleasure was followed by a gasp from Eliza's lips as the cake slipped through her hand to the floor and got both Noah's and Taylor's attention.

Taylor looked shocked; his eyes made a detailed eye contact with Eliza's. She couldn't even see his reaction properly as her vision got blurred with the tears of pain in her eyes.