Constantly lying as a dead fish felt worse day by day. Dima called thrice a day to check on me and so Did Mia. Her fiance knew about my condition and their moving to LA preparation was a tremendous help. Emma somehow got the news out of Aria after following her to Charles’s house. 

She cried for two hours straight even after I urged her not to. From that day onwards, she met me whenever she could take time out from her work. Dr. John came occasionally to change the dressing and after a week, I felt much better than the corpse feeling I felt after the day of that accident.

My legs felt numb after I tried settling them on the floor. This was a regular problem now that I tried walking for some time. 

“How many times do I need to tell you to stop walking?” Anthony, as always, caught me when I was trying to walk. Slowly, he helped me climb onto the bed. “And how many times do I need to tell you, you look like shit?” I glared at him. I was sick, but my people looked sicker than me.

“I’m fine.”

“Oh, of course, you are!” I commented sarcastically as he handed me the pills. My IVs were long gone, and I was relieved when I could move my hands easily. 

“You can’t keep your injury hidden for long.” He commented, and I was quiet. I understood he was right as Mia, Dima, and Olivia were restless, worrying about me even when they did not know about my accident.

“Did Charles say something about the progress of finding the guys?” I inquired. As much as I wanted to punish the culprits, I somehow felt that they were attached to Zearo. The way he was constantly avoiding me for a week now, I couldn’t help but wonder what he was trying to hide.

“Still couldn’t find them. You couldn’t describe their features as they hid them behind a black mask. He said it worsened the situation.” He looked at the window out of the room towards the sky and so did I.

“I want you to help Aria with the meeting with the Andersons. They shouldn’t have any inkling about the incident.” I whispered when I remembered Andersons were being a pain in the ass as we kept on delaying the meeting. Jonathan Anderson barged into my office one day, as I was not available for the meeting. 

“Ugh, that Suzanne Anderson is so much trouble.” He muttered, cursing under his breath.

“I know, I know. It’s just for today. I’m sure I'll be alright for the next meeting.” His hatred for Suzanne grew day by day as she was being so rude to them.

“Be careful as no one’s around to take care of you at the moment,” he explained, and I glared at him. 

“It’s not the first time that I’m alone in this strange house!” 

“Charles had a few cops barricading out of the building, but today that’s unavailable as well.” He explained. Charles had been overly protective these past days. Maybe because he wanted to hide what his boss did.

“Why is that?” I enquired.

“Entire police staff had to report on duty as elections are near.” He explained.

“Yeah, sure, I will lock the door from inside,” I said, nodding at him.

“**†*****†*****†******†****

A loud knock echoed throughout the empty house. I suddenly woke up from my sleep. My head was still drowsy and my heart was beating louder. I felt too hot as sweat formed on my forehead. Gently getting down from the bed, I made my way towards the door. My heart unknowingly beat harder as I neared it. On my way, I picked up a screwdriver that was lying idly on the table. Hiding it behind me, I unlocked the door and opened it slowly, holding the screwdriver tightly in the other hand. 

“You alright?” My eyes landed on his face as he curiously looked at me. Expressionless, yet his eyes had too much pain. Moving aside, I put the screwdriver away from his sight as slowly as I could. The stitches slowly healed as I felt less pain than usual while moving. Leaving the door ajar, I turned around too swiftly for my liking I sucked in a deep breath when I felt a deep pain in my stomach where I was stabbed. 

“Let me help you.” I felt his presence behind me, his breath fanning my neck. He tried holding my hand, but I jerked it off and walked away from him, even if my body was screaming with pain. Pain so unbearable that I felt my eyes prickling and a few tears followed down my eyes. Quickly wiping it off, I made my way toward my room. 

I heard his steps along with another one. But my ears buzzed with the pain that emerged out of nowhere, interrupting me on my steps. John said if I move too much, my waist will be most affected. I didn’t know it would hurt this much, but I could see the stars in the bloody daylight as the pain surged through all my veins. I looked at the clock and it stuck three in the afternoon.

“Shit!” I cursed under my breath as I forgot to take the painkillers. Not bothering to eat something, I grabbed an apple on my way. From my peripheral vision, I saw Zearo trailing behind me, but he was careful not to barge into my private space. Biting the apple slowly, I put my first leg on the bed and slowly placed my entire body on it. Zearo came with a glass of juice, but I shook my head and peeled off the cover of the pill that I had to take. 

“Drink this first.” Snatching the pill away from my hold, he glared at me and I returned it with the same intensity. “How dare you?” I asked as he didn’t back down. Not bothering to talk to him when he looked at my attire, amused at my condition, I turned away from him towards the drawer where they stacked the new packets of the medicines. Swiftly, I pulled out one and gulped it down without giving him much time to retort. As the pill touched my throat, I felt like vomiting, but I gripped the mattress, suppressing the urge to vomit. 

“You do you.” He glared at me, keeping the glass of juice aside, and stomped out of my room. The bitter taste of the pill still lingered in my mouth and I looked at the juice. Sighing loudly, I gulped it down. The sweetness subdues the bitterness. Slowly sitting up, I started tapping on my phone as I had to answer a few emails.

My mind couldn’t concentrate as I recalled how disheveled he looked. Zearo looked worse than the day I first met him. His hair grew long enough as he tied a ponytail clutching the long hair. I noticed he didn’t trim after the party as his beard grew to hide his dimple and give him a dense look. His dress was disheveled too as he stopped wearing ironed shirts. I didn’t know why. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I sighed. It took everything in me to answer two emails as a sudden knock on the door interrupted me. My phone slipped out of my hand as I was not ready for the intrusion. 

Pushing my spectacles back from my nose, I muttered, “Come in.” Too tired to look at the person, I went back to scrolling through my emails. 

“Uhum.” I heard him clear his throat. 

“What is it? Please speak up. I have work to do. Have little time to pass.” I said in a hurry as I kept scrolling through the emails. 

“Someone came to visit you.” His deep husky voice had an edge that gave me goosebumps. Unsure whether I should heed his words and meet that person or not, I went on with it and looked at him with furrowed brows. 

“Look, I have so much to catch up on and I seriously am-“ I froze when he slid aside and my eyes landed on the person behind him.

“Julie.” I breathed. I couldn’t believe he brought his girlfriend to meet me. The reason I was in this horrible condition.

“Are you kidding me?” They hurt me. I didn’t know what it was, but I felt my heart shattering into pieces. I was not jealous but I. I genuinely did not think that he’d bring her here. Of course, it was his friend’s house. He could bring anyone he wished but. 

“Hey..” She waved her hand awkwardly. I wished I had that screwdriver with me so that I could have stabbed my eyes already before watching them two waving at me.

“Why is she here?” I knew it was rude of me to talk like that, but what did you expect from someone who was attacked and the attacker stood right in front of them? 

“Liara!” His voice rose. I raised my eyebrows, daring him to cross his limit. He groaned and looked at Julie and then at me. Without blinking, I stared at him, judging his every move. 

“Just... Just listen to her, please?” His voice was calmer than before when I saw Julie holding his hand. How fucking amazing! 

“Why did she want to kill me? Okay, go on.” I said as I held the duvet tighter than before. They were suffocating me and I didn’t want to hyperventilate in front of them.

“No... I... I never meant to do that to you.” She said, her voice quivering. Surprised, I put my phone aside and looked at her. I recalled that she attended a few meetings. She was a prominent member who challenged and questioned every damn thing that felt wrong to her. I could not understand why she stooped so low.

“Can you wait outside?” I asked as I caught her glancing at Zearo now and then and that man kept staring at me as if I was a time bomb ready to blast.

“Okay.” He walked away, closing the door from behind.

“Have a seat.” My actions surprised me as I was being too good to the person who was the reason behind the mess.

“I’m. I’m not sure how to even expect an apology from you.” She stared at me. I looked at her unmoving, curious about whatever she wanted to say. Her eyes were brown, a thin eyeliner giving her eyes a definition. Her hair was tied behind. I gazed at her outfit, a simple floral sundress giving her a younger look. I then glanced at my baggy outfit, loose t-shirt, and a pair of trousers. I looked like a mess compared to her.

Clearing my throat, realizing that she looked at me as if it was my cue to speak, “Why did you try to hurt me?” I was proud.

“I did not!” She shrieked, and I looked at her horrifying expression. 

“I’d never hurt you. I... I was too drunk to realize that I called my sister and told her about -“ she paused, tears breaking through her eyes.

“About?” I inquired.

“I love him. Too much to even care that he’s married.” Okay, it went straight to my heart, giving it a tight squeeze. She hid her face behind her hands and started sobbing.

“I did not know that he was already married when I fell for him. I just” ugh, too much trouble.

“How do you know Samira?” I asked. 

“Samira is my cousin.” She answered, and I nodded. Suddenly, the thought of her being unaware of his past struck me. 

“How long did you know him?” I was curious about their story 

“Since Samira started working for him?” She was unsure about it, and I raised my eyebrows at her.

“Oh, you mean I know about his background?” She inquired. I nodded. She looked hesitant whether to share it with me but then spoke, “Samira used to tell me stories about him. I have known him since then and maybe I fell for him every day after that.” Her face held a small smile, but she enveloped it as soon as our eyes met.

“Samira did this because of me. I’m so sorry.” She apologized again and again. This woman did not even realize that Samira had a grudge against me for a long time and she just gave her another reason to harm me. 

“Fine.” What did she expect me to say? That’s all I could say as I started scrolling through my phone again, not bothering to look at her.

“I don’t know why I’m telling you this, he is your husband but--“ she started stuttering, giving me a headache.

“What else?”

“Do you love him?” She inquired.

“Why does that bother you?”

“He did not share the news that he was married and continued caring for me the way he did before. I just wanted to know whether he is happy in this marriage.” 

“Can’t someone care for their friends after marriage?”

“We-we are more than friends.” She deadpanned that halted the movement of my fingers that scrolled through the phone.

“And what do you mean by that?” I was angry because she was sure that they had something and I knew he had someone important in his life, but didn’t imagine I’d have to deal with them right now. 

“I don’t think he loves you more than he loves me.” She declared. I chuckled, as I knew he did not love me. 

“So everything was not unplanned that day,” I said and looked at her. I had an inkling that Samira alone wouldn’t bother doing that. And yeah, now when I noticed Julie looking at me and not denying my statement, I realized she was involved in that.

"Zearo, what have you done.?" I shook my head disbelieving as this conversation was complete bullshit.

***†***†***†****†****†***†***†***†***

So, do you think Liara will take action against Julie? Or what do you think she'd do next?

Let me know what you think she's going to do.

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