"Julie!" I walked past the door of my apartment, searching for Julie. I've seen how Liara tackled things. If Julie had something to do with that, then I knew she wouldn't leave her.

"Wow, hold on! I'm here.'' I heard her voice from the kitchen and walked towards her.

"Why didn't you tell me that Shimmers has been executing human trafficking and drug dealings?" I interrogated, holding her shoulder. She was covered with white powder all over her body which made her look adorable, but my mind wasn't at peace to focus on those terms.

"What? How did you?" She started, but stopped? Her lips remained parted and her eyes looked at me with sympathy. I froze as I thought she was innocent.

"You knew?" Totally unsure if I heard it right, I gazed at her face for any reaction of shock.

"Let me explain." She walked towards me, holding my hand, but I pushed her away.

"You've been doing illegal business behind my back?" How foolish I was to believe her blindly.

"No! I had no part in that!" She came a little closer.

"I thought I could convince Liara to keep you away from it, but now I won't." I said, shaking my head.

"Liara?" She asked.

"She knows that you've been doing illegal business and would report it to the police," I said as a matter of fact.

"She won't," Julie announced. I looked at her as if she had gone mad.

"Now that she's the owner of the club, she wouldn't let the cops know about it. The club will be shut down and her entire investment would be zeroed." She said, having a confident expression. A small smile on her face.

"We have to stop the business before she gets hold of it," I said as Liara was hell-bent on closing the illegal racket down. She would definitely do something.

"Samira used to say that you fear no one. But a mere woman had you on your knees already?" Her tone was something different. I didn't like it a bit. Walking towards her, I grabbed her throat and looked at her eyes, but saw her smiling instead of an ounce of pain.

"Don't bring Alfredo back. I'm holding back because I prioritize you over her. Even though she worked for the betterment of society, I came to you to save you." I said through gritted teeth.

"They have thrown me out of your life long back. A mere lady won't harm anything less than you did." She said, Her eyes were misty, making me helpless.

"I've been through this and how high the outcome of the illegal business was, the risk was equal," I explained. After giving up my past life, I still had the knife over my head to tear me apart from the crimes and illegal business I did in the past. I would not let Julie do the same.

"I've had no hands on them. As Logan was in charge of the building, he handled those things. I had no say in that. He threatened me many times that he'd close my business and kill every employee I adored." I heard her say. Looking into her eyes, I saw she was genuinely upset.

"I had no other way than to stay silent. My love for the club was more than these things. I still tried to help the kids but ended up losing four employees." She said, hiding her face. Her voice shivered as if she was shaking. I felt pity for how things always turned out badly for her.

"You must have had a hard time dealing with Logan," I said through gritted teeth and pulled her into a tight hug. She slowly hugged me tighter and cried out.

"I've lost everything. My club, my business, my people and-" she halted and parted ways, looking at me. I frowned and looked at her, confused.

"You," she said, crying even more. Oh, baby. My heart shattered into pieces as I saw her breaking down.

"I'm here with you. I will always be." I said, pulling her back into a tight hug. Before Liara does something to Julie, I need to get things sorted with her.

"I have to leave as I rushed in between an important meeting. Tonight, I will meet you at the club." I promised her and walked out of my apartment. Julie made my apartment look more homely, but sadly, I would not visit her more often.

Getting back to the office where Liara was, I thought to speak to her about it and the matter about Luchellies. They had been on my head hammering me since I got the call from him.

"I know! I know what I'm doing." My legs froze as I heard Liara's voice. She had an edge on her voice as if it did not impress her with the topic that was being discussed. They didn't have any idea that I was outside and the door was still ajar for me to hear their conversation.

"You have been in constant threat for months after your marriage contract. And now you want him to bring his old self back? Have you any idea how he used to be back then?" I heard a male voice. Thinking back to the times, I was sure I knew that person. His name was something like Vikrant.

"I know everything, Vikrant." I heard Liara again.

"They have been threatening him for nothing. He is much stronger than what he shows." Liara said in a calmer tone. My interest peaked, as it intrigued me to know what she thought about me.

"You've gone mad. He used to kill people." Vikrant said. I nodded.

"So do I. Whether it was directly or indirectly, I killed people, too. It's just that nobody is blaming me for that because they don't have any proof and nothing happened outright in my hands." She said.

"Business is business. We do things to succeed. I did what I had to because I needed power. He did what he had to because he needed power, too. I've had a knife over my head for years. He did too." She continued. I couldn't explain the surge of emotions that flowed through my body after hearing her say those things.

"But Liara, Luchellies are different." He said.

"That's the main reason I had to convince him to not hide like cowards. I've dealt with my competitors. I've succeeded and my competitors vanished. Now I have to face a criminal-minded person who has a tremendous impact on the black market which I know very less about. I need a strong power to walk with me if I have to face Luchellies." I had to agree with her thought process.

"We have him." He said. Who was he referring to me?

"I'm never going to bow down to him. I'm going to convince Zearo and I will work with him henceforth." He was not me? Then who was he referring to? Was he that dangerous or did something terrible happen to Liara because of that guy?

"And I don't want any further discussion about this matter. You've to stop questioning my decision." Damn, her voice was authoritative, so bold.

"Eavesdropping is a bad habit." I turned around swiftly as I heard a female voice behind me. I couldn't imagine they caught me eavesdropping on my wife. Wah.

"I was not. I was just going to enter." I shrugged my shoulders and rubbed my neck, embarrassed at getting caught.

"Yeah, sure." Agnes looked at me and smirked as if she didn't believe me, and entered the room with two cups of coffee. I followed her.

"Your husband is back." She announced as we made our way inside the cabin. Walking past her, I walked toward Liara as I needed to talk to her. She saw me coming and held her hand up for me to wait, and went out to receive a call. I nodded and silently made my way towards the corner sofa where I could sit and think.

"You look stressed. What's the matter?" Just as I closed my eyes calming my mind, I heard someone interrupting me. I hardly got time for myself these days. Regretting my decision to change my crowd-free life to one full of people, I gave him a tight-lipped smile.

"Hey buddy, we hardly had time to talk." I slid aside for him to sit. Not bothering to sit beside me, he drew a chair in front of me. I raised my eyebrows at what exactly was his problem and he smiled at me, pushing his specs up to his nose.

"You look stressed." He said, examining my face. I had little to no time to shave, and I also had no wish to trim it down. I guess that made me look stressed.

"I don't normally look stressed. It's just that I had been busy these days and had no time to groom myself." I said, touching my beard and feeling it. I loved the beard, and I didn't know why I looked like I was stressed.

"It's not your beard that gives off that vibe. It's your eyes. You can never lie through your eyes." What's with him now? I furrowed my brows and looked at him, confused. His blue eyes and clean skin made me aware of how ungroomed I was.

"I know living a life with a successful woman is hard and with Liara, it's hard to cope with the condition she always been." He said, sipping his coffee.

"Uh-huh." I hummed as it was completely off-topic suddenly.

"She needs someone who understands her and supports her decision, whether or not it's legal." He continued. My eyes searched for Liara or any other member to come and stop the topic that started making me awkward.

"What makes you think I can't cope with her?" I asked, bending a little and locking both hands. When we first met, I did not intimidate him the way Vikrant did. I was impressed with how he was holding himself.

"With her, life seems like it moves fast forward. Sometimes I wonder whether that woman even breathes properly." He said, and I had to agree with that. From the day I met her, I never saw her completely resting and giving herself some time to relax. It was as if her life was moving in a fast-forward mode and she refused to take a break.

"You seem to vary of her," I said as his eyes turned towards Liara, who came back after getting off the call.

"Of course. I don't think there's anyone who could know her better than me." He whispered faintly and smiled at me and said, "it's just that I've been with her longer than you." And walked towards her. I heard him for the first time, but he changed his statement. But why? I recalled if I heard it wrong, but no, he said that.

"Damn Liara, you don't have any idea how many people around you think of you," I whispered, clicking my tongue. My wife deserved to be crushed upon. I saw her gracefully dealing with problems and never giving up. Her way of tackling things, her love for family and friends, and her trying hard to be bold and strong. I smiled as I thought of her as a businesswoman. I've met so many ladies, but no one was as powerful as her.

"Someone is in love." I saw Aliyah walking toward me as she pointed out something absurd.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"You've been staring at your wife for too long, and that pretty smile says it all." She said, pointing at my lips. I touched my lips and yeah, I was smiling.

"Oh, it's nothing," I said, waving her off. But she shook her head and handed me a cup of strong coffee.

"Ah, thank you. I needed something else, but this would do for now." I admitted. Having stressful days made me crazy.

"You are most welcome." She said and stared at me. I raised my eyebrow at her questing.

"I don't know when we will get to meet again, as we never meet her family or friends." She said, shaking her head and I furrowed my eyebrows at her. Why did she say that?

"We have our own lives and works to deal with so." She answered my unasked question.

"Pardon me if it's too personal and I'm crossing the limit but never hurt Liara." She said out of the blue. My smile faded, and I raised my eyebrows.

"Before you ask me anything, just listen. She will never tell you if she needed support, nor will she accept it when you lend your shoulder to her to cry when she is upset." She took a deep breath and looked at me with so many emotions surging in her eyes.

"What's with you?" I asked, not knowing how to comfort a lady I merely talked to.

"She doesn't believe anyone, so if she allowed you past that barrier, you meant a lot to her. Don't hurt her, as I'm certain she will not overcome that." She said as she laid her hand on my hand and squeezed it gently. How many barriers did she build that all her companions and friends were so worried about her? I thought and gave her a weak smile.

"You both will be happy." She said and walked towards where the group was. So many questions popped into my mind and I had no one to ask, as different people had different views about her. "Fucking great," I whispered and laid back on the sofa to think about all this and cry about what I made myself do. 

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Do you think this story is going on a little slow-paced? Let me know if switching between two point of view is confusing you in any way. ❤

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