Driving straight to the mansion, I kept looking at how stressed her face looked. During these three days when she was in California, I couldn't get hold of her. Charles informed me that Shimmers wasn't being renovated. They just were looking for the proper way to shift the kids out.

Julie was acting weird, making me anxious about whether she was part of this crime. I was spending ample time with Dima and Lilly. Dima informed me that Lily was not waking up in the middle of the night any more and I felt relieved.

"You don't have any idea how worried I was when I couldn't get in touch with you and Anthony wouldn't let me," I whispered. Sometimes I wanted to talk to her, even though I knew we never had a friendly conversation.

"Why were you worried?" She asked groggily. I swear I had a mini heart attack, and the car stumbled upon a stone, making me jerk.

"You were awake?" I asked, surprised.

"You think I could sleep in the car by how you drive?" She asked, but looked at the road. I preferred to remain silent, and she went on checking her phone.

"Don't you have my number?" She inquired.

"I do," I said, remembering that I'd saved her number.

"You should have called me if you were so worried about me." She air quoted it, making it prominent that she exaggerated the word worried.

"I didn't want to disturb you and didn't know a proper time when you'd be free," I confessed.

"One in the morning." She said,

"Huh?" I looked at her, confused.

"You can check up on me at one in the morning if I'm somewhere out for work." She answered, and this could be the first time she spoke to me for more than a minute.

"Okay," I said. I was happy that we could move past fights and arguments.

"For what do I owe such a friendly behavior?" I asked.

"You've done a good job today." She said as she showed me the mail.

"I am driving." I reminded her by gesturing towards the steering.

"You helped Charles and the chief to move the kids to our warehouse." She said, I looked at her, not expecting that the message could reach this soon.

"How did you know?" I asked and took a swift turn towards the mansion.

"The Chief sent me a long email explaining how things went and how helpful my husband was." She said with a smile, bringing a smile to my face.

"Well, I just thought to lessen the loss that you've already suffered," I confessed. I was worried about how she was contemplating the losses she had to face because of that investment.

"That's what Oliver was talking about during the dinner." She whispered, and I hummed.

"What was Julie saying that I need to know something sooner?" This woman wasn't sleepy but listening to our conversation.

"You were pretending to sleep just so that I could carry you, huh?" I asked as I slowly parked the car inside the parking area.

"Oh, you wish." She said and walked out of the car. I thought she let this slide, but to my dismay, she again repeated that question. "What is it she was talking about?"

"That's " I started to make another excuse and luckily, I heard Lilly's squeaky voice.

"Angel! Princess!" I saw a small Lilly jumping and hopping around as she approached Liara.

"Hello there!" Liara waved at her with a smile. I observed them carefully and was delighted with how they were so friendly.

"I missed you!" Lilly said, hugging Liara's legs. She bent down and hugged her, saying she missed her too.

"I guess someone took my charge, huh?" I heard Dima's voice as she walked toward us.

"No Dima," Liara said and hugged her tightly.

"How are you?" Liara asked in a worried tone.

"I'm good. But look at you. You look so tired." Dima said, and I nodded.

"It's alright. You know flight and me don't dwell together." Liara said and the three of them walked inside the house, leaving me outside.

"Oh, I am tired as well," I announced, and Lilly came rushing towards me, making me chuckle.

"You are being jealous because we were talking to Princess," Lilly said, and I laughed as she was completely right.

"She has been calling you princess ever since she heard me call that. I hope you are okay." Dima asked Liara, and I made my way toward them.

"I'm okay Dima. You worry too much about me." Liara said, shaking her head. They both get worried about each other equally.

"Shall I bring something for you guys to eat?" Dima enquired as we headed inside.

"Mrs. Stones made so many delicious and healthy dishes that I'm so full," Liara said and pointed at the study. Dima nodded, to which I felt left out. What were they pointing at?

"Lilly will go to sleep now," Lilly said and hopped inside her room. Dima smiled and Liara made her way toward her study.

"Shouldn't you sleep after such a tiresome trip?" I suggested as she was climbing the stairs.

"Are you worried about me, again?" She enquired exaggerating the worried word, but her legs never stopped. She kept on marching towards her study.

"Of course I am. Look at Dima. You are making every one of us worry about you." I confessed.

"Even if I do nothing, Dima will be worried about me. But why you?" She asked and turned towards me. I stuttered a little and looked at her.

"If you fall sick, then your friend Ema would practically slice me into two halves." I shrugged.

"As if you fear her." She chuckled.

"I do! Not because I can overpower her or something, but that aura when she gets angry gives me goosebumps." I said.

"I will convey that message." She laughed and said, entering the study

"Hey! No way you are going to say that to her," I replied and walked towards her study.

"Okay, I won't. You can take some rest in my room. I have some business to attend to." She said, motioning me to get out of her study.

"But you are so tired. Work can wait. "I said

"I will sleep here when I'm done with some urgent work." She said, signaling her bed beside the corridor.

"I will sleep here, you go to your room," I said

"Dima will find it doubtful." She said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Sleeping in a single room won't hurt your ego. You need rest and if you have a problem with me staying around you, then I will go to my apartment." I suggested, to which she shook her head

"More reason for her to believe it, otherwise now that your club is closed." She had a point, but I couldn't let her sleep here.

"Fine then. I will come to the room once I'm done with some urgent stuff." She said, and I made sure I heard it right. Even though I suggested it, I knew having her sleep beside me would be a hard task considering how drawn towards her my mind was.

"Okay," I said and walked towards her room.

******

Changing sides while sleeping, I couldn't focus on a single thing and kept glancing at the clock. As it struck twelve, I thought to check up on Liara and whether she slept in the study.

Slowly making my way, I heard some voices inside the study.

"I'm still searching for her," Liara said.

"Princess, it's been years." Dima was still awake. Surprised, I made my way a little closer to the study where I could hear them.

"Dima, I can't help but think about her again and again. I had to do something." Liara whispered. Her voice held pain.

"Princess, you are torturing yourselves," Dima said angrily, and I heard footsteps coming toward me. I strolled towards the balcony and hid under the roof from where I saw them both exit the study after a while.

"Who was she referring to?" I murmured. The moonlit night brought so many questions along with suspicions. Making my already jumbled life more jumbled.

"Where were you? I thought you'd be asleep by now." Liara questioned as she was applying something on her face and when she noticed me enter the room.

"I needed some fresh air," I said, shrugging.

"Okay," she said and silently made her way towards the other end of the bed. I carefully walked towards her and maintained distance while lying on it. I felt like I was sleeping in a bed full of thorns.

*********************

"I need to inform him first. We can't just go like that. Yesterday was when I came back." I heard a faint voice. I groaned as the sunlight blinded me when I tried to open my eyes. My throat felt dry and when I peeked at the clock, it struck eight.

"Alright, I will have a look at my schedule before you mess with that again." I searched for Liara's voice and found her walking out of her walk-in closet. She was already ready to go to the office, and I was still asleep.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I woke you up." She said when our eyes met. I rose a little and rested my body on the border of the bed. I watched her as she was putting on some pearl earrings. Her satin, orange shirt, and black bottom with pearl earrings looked so delicate.

"No, it's completely fine," I said and gulped down a glass of water beside me.

"I will be off to work and you will join your job today." She said as she looked at me through the mirror and got back to her work.

''So the Shimmers is finally starting," I said more to myself.

"Yeah, but unfortunately you will have to take leave for a few days." She said, turning towards me. I raised my eyebrows, as I wasn't ready to lose my job.

"My friend Chloe's marriage is around the corner. We have two days to settle things and attend her wedding. That's going to be for two days." She said, sighing.

"Ah alright. You don't want to go?" I asked, considering her reaction.

"Doesn't matter." She said and waved me off. It always is the same. We, for a minute, behave like more than strangers but then get back to our old selves.

"Is something wrong?" I inquired, not feeling good about how her expression changed compared to how close she felt yesterday.

"Nothing that involves you." She said without looking back at me and walked out of the room, leaving me speechless.

"Now what did I do?" I asked myself. Prying my hands on my hair, I sighed as finally, I was going to relieve all my stress and enjoy the music, but then Liara's sudden change in demeanor had a stupid impact on my brain. A pinch of salt in an already wounded area.

"What should I do with her?" I asked, and walked into the washroom to freshen up and meet Charles.

*********

"Being her husband for eight months already and you don't know what's going on in her mind?" Charles shook his head, making me realize it was already eight months.

"I don't know what's wrong with her. She was alright till last night." I said, genuinely clueless.

"Something might have happened," Charles said but kept quiet as he saw Julie walking towards us.

"I heard we will join Shimmers from today?" She asked, and I nodded.

"Liara worked hard to bring back an authentic Shimmers, unlike a clubhouse for human trafficking," Charles said in a vicious tone, clicking the spoon on the empty plate after eating his full.

"Zearo also worked hard." Julie interrupted.

"You do not know," Charles said, and Julie and I looked at him cluelessly.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"That file, if you remember after the commotion." He gestured, and I nodded.

"That file held some solid proofs about someone who our Chief was dying to arrest. She just with a click of her fingers brought those to him and he in return allowed Julie to breathe free air and Shimmers to grow again." Charles said, and I looked at him to confirm if that was the truth.

"She gave proof about Mr. Xavier, senior chief, for having a part in the trafficking. Chief was promoted because of this and we got a hold of some major groups." Charles said and I couldn't believe it.

"How did she find those things? And how's that related to Julie?" I enquired

"I don't know if I am right. She has a team of experts who secretly work for her. They help her get ahold of these top secret things with the help of which she plays her card with our chief." He said, clicking his tongue. Amusement was clear on his face.

"Shimmers have been a profitable business. She had to have some cards to keep it working." Julie said.

"No, she did that for you. Julie, try to be considerate. As you were in charge of the club, Chief was hell-bent on arresting you and Logan had proof he wasn't allowed to decide. It was all on you." Charles shook his head and pointed at Julie.

"Liara, to run her business, does some rule breaking and supplies these proofs to Chief so he sidelines her wrongdoings to a certain extent. Instead of using that for her benefit, she gave such valuable information to you. She asked him to not involve you in any documents related to the trafficking and promised to take care of the kids until they regain consciousness." Charles brought a clear picture of how considerate the chief was.

"Huh, you wish. She did all that to take Zearo away from me in the same way she took my shimmers." Julie said and went back to my room. I shook my head at how hell bent she was.

"That woman is crazy," Charles commented, to which I waved my hand.

"She is going through so much and she lost all her valuable things. She needs time to accept her fate." I answered.

"You need to think about Liara for once. Julie isn't a kid and Liara is not her mom to take care of her wrongdoings." Charles said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You are forcing your wife to clean the dirt piled by your girlfriend. When she was the reason, your wife was stabbed to death. You and your priorities need to be checked, master." Charles said and walked out of my apartment.

"Girls are so confusing." I rubbed my eyes and laid back.

"I texted you in the morning that I have good news for you. Why didn't you reply?" Did I hear Julie?

"When?"

"In the morning. I sent you a small clue, too." She said, walking towards me and having an innocent look.

"What do you mean? What clue?" I asked.

"You didn't see my message? It was notified as seen, though." She said.

''What was the message?" I asked, as my intuition was that Liara must have seen it.

"Have a look." She said and sat on my lap. I stared at her for a second and then at her phone.

"Are you serious?!" I snapped at her losing my shit at the moment when I saw her holding a pair of baby shoes. I was fuming and sweating.

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