Chapter 3

Shantala woke up alone in a room where she could oversee the beach that was stained with fiery orange coming from the rising sun. She had been asleep like a log for the past night. Feeling a bit sore after what happened between her and her new man, she took her time getting dressed before leaving the room, hoping she would see Hyperion by the living room or by the kitchen.

But much to her disappointment, there was no one else but silence in the beach house.

With the emptiness that suddenly came dawning on her, she started to think that what just happened was simply a dream. That thought triggered a pang of pain in her chest but she still tried to tell herself that the wedding and their first union were real. She was about to go outside but she noticed the yellow note pinned on the refrigerator door.

"Urgent business. Will be right back as soon as possible," she read.

Just below the small note was a name, Hel. Shantala thought that it was probably the real name of Hyperion. But instead of feeling relieved that she was married to Hyperion for real, she felt a cold shiver run down her spine. She knew too well that this was another way of digging her own grave but she also believed that if she treaded carefully, she would not end up dead.

She did not waste any more seconds and ran back to the room where she slept in and grabbed her phone on top of the table. Going through her lists of contacts, she pressed on the number of her father and dialed it. She was afraid that even before a day passed by after their wedding, Hyperion might have found out that she was not Stacey. If he were to know that fact, she could not even imagine what he would do to her.

After a few rings, her father answered the call.

"Did you find Stacey?" she asked with the calmest voice she could muster.

"No. Even Lance could not find or contact her. Did... did Hyperion find out?" There was a hint of anxiety in his voice which made Shantala feel even more worried.

Shaking her head, she replied, "I don't think so but for him to never find it out, we should keep quiet while you search for Stacey. Make sure that Lance stays out of this matter."

After that call, she made another call but this time, she called her workplace to inform them that she would not be attending her job for a personal reason. Even though her boss retaliated with her decision because she was one of the women often visited by the clients, he could not change Shantala's mind. Plus, this was the only time she asked for a break so she was given no choice but to grant her request.

"There is a really important client wanting to hire you tonight. You should take him in before having your one-week break," her boss insisted.

She could only heave a sigh and replied, "Even if I wanted to, I am already out of town so I cannot go back today."

But before her boss could say anything else, she heard another man's voice on the other side of the phone. It sounded familiar but Shantala could not pinpoint where she had heard such a voice that made her hair stand on its end. She could not make out what the other man said to her boss but even then, she felt like he was some kind of bad news.

"Hey, Shantala. The client does not want to leave without talking to you so I am giving him your contact number. Enjoy your break!"

The next thing that she heard was the beeping sound of her phone as her boss ended the call with her. She did not know what the so-called client wanted from her but she just hoped that it was not one of the rude clients she had encountered before. Staring at her phone, she waited for the client's call but a minute had passed but nothing had happened yet.

Walking towards the refrigerator, she got herself a cold drink to calm her tensed nerves. With how things were making her stand on the edge of the cliff, she could not help but think that whether she was married or not, troubles and worries would always be running after her.

As she stared at the sea where small waves would crash over the white sands, she was reminded of what happened the other day. It made her face blush like hell as it was her very first intimate sex with a man. It was not because of money or work. It was a union she personally wanted.

A little while later, she flinched in surprise when her phone rang and what showed up on the screen of her phone was a new number. After a few moments of hesitation, she decided to answer the call but did not speak a single word. She was quite sure that this was the important client her boss was referring to, but it did not change the fact that she sees him as a stranger.

"It's been a while, Luna," the man on the other side of the line greeted, sending cold shivers down her spine and making her feel like her blood grew colder running through her veins. Just by hearing her nickname, she immediately knew who it was.

There was only one person who called her Luna and that was none other than Klauss Wilburn. His name was known by people not only for his good looks that can be compared to those fictional characters fawn over by readers but he was also famous for his excellence in the field of medicine as a surgeon. Other than Hyperion, he was the man she did not want to cross paths with ever again. Not in this lifetime or even her next life because it was him who created the worst version of her.

"Have we not agreed before not to get involved with each other, Mister Wilburn?" she said in a low tone voice as if she was afraid that someone might hear her.

Instead of an answer, what she got from Klauss was a laugh... the same laugh she heard after she reported to him that her mission was a success a few years ago. It made her shudder but she did her best not to make her fear obvious because it was something Klauss seemed to feed off from. Biting her lower lip, she gathered her courage to prepare herself from whatever Klauss would tell her.

"After all the years we have not spoken or seen each other, why are you asking such a disheartening question?" Klauss asked. "We go way back, Luna. Why don't we meet up for our reunion? What do you think?"

"No!" Shantala immediately replied. After the last mission she did for him, she swore to herself that she would not accept another mission from him and that she would cut off ties with him. But it seemed like even after the years she thought she was free, it was actually a wrong thought she had told herself.

Klauss chuckled. "Why, my dearest Luna? Is it because of your husband?"

There was a long pause after that and the man was actually waiting for a reaction from Shantala. However, when he heard nothing but only the woman's faint breathing, Klauss spoke yet again to taunt her just like how he managed to do before.

"Who was it again?" he added. "If I remember it correctly, is it Hyperion?"

Klauss shifted in his position and leaned on his table, showing how much anticipation he had.

"Please, Klauss," she finally begged, which entertained the surgeon very much. "I already did everything I could to be of your service for years. Isn't that enough?"

He shook his head as if Shantala was just in front of him. "No, no, my Luna. It won't ever be enough until you are here by my side. So before Hyperion would know the truth that you are just pretending to be your sister, meet me."

Eyes wide open, she shot up from her seat with her grip on her phone growing tighter. How could Klauss know of that fact? Did her father tell him? Or was he keeping an eye on her ever since the day they parted ways? Those questions echoed in her mind and it made her feel more agitated.

"See you later in our usual meeting place."

"Wait-"

Before Shantala could negate, all she heard was her phone beeping when Klauss ended the call. If Hyperion finds out that she was not Stacey, he would probably kill her and find her sister. That was not something she did not want to happen at all so she would do anything in her power to keep that secret and for her sister not to get entangled with Hyperion any further.

Going back to the kitchen, she took a piece of sticky note and wrote that she would also be at the university for a bit. Before leaving the beach house, she took one last glance at its beauty before entering the cab. She was just having thoughts that she might not be able to go back to that place now that Klauss had once again returned.

Upon reaching the city, she headed to the café rooftop of a small apartment house just near the Evening City Garden club. This was the place that witnessed her and Klauss' countless meet-ups before and it brought quite a lot of both happy and nightmarish memories she had with the surgeon. She did not bother calling and informing him that she had already arrived because she wanted to take that time to prepare herself for whatever Klauss wanted to discuss with her.

Shifting her sight to the large signage of the club she was working on, she heaved a heavy sigh as the guilt she thought she had long forgotten came crawling back to her.

"You are as early as before, Luna."

Shantala snapped back to her senses when Klauss sat on the seat just across from her. It had been almost 8 years ever since she last saw him but up until now, she could not deny the fact that he seemed to have grown younger and more appealing. He was wearing his casual clothes that day so she thought that it was probably his day off that he got the time to come and disturb her.

"Don't call me that," she stated but Klauss simply grinned at her.

"Why? I love that name."

"What did you call me here for?"

What Klauss really liked about Shantala was the way she would try her hardest to shield herself from the troubles she was expecting to come and strike her. But with just a few words from him, that shield would shatter into pieces and he would be able to see her most vulnerable self. It entertained him even though he had been repeatedly doing it several times.

"Well, other than the fact that I truly missed you, I just wanted to confirm if what I heard was real." He paused for a second as he leaned closer to her. "Did you really marry that mafia boss?"

Shantala glared at him and with gritted teeth, she replied, "What is it to you?"

She clenched her fists when all she received from him was a chuckle. It annoyed the hell out of her but all she could do was behave herself because if she ever do anything that would tick him off, he might keep his word on telling Hyperion of who she really was.

"Well, hearing such news from another person just makes my blood boil, Luna, when you are supposed to be mine," he replied. But this time, his usual relaxed and friendly expression turned dark and threatening that even Shantala wanted to run.