Tears, unstoppable. I tried suppressing the feeling that I felt when he said I didn’t search for my mother. He knew nothing about all the hardships I went through. Every day I wake up wishing that it was all a nightmare and my mom and grandma were alive. No one could make it up to how devastated and lonely I was to date. 

I sighed, pacing inside my room when I saw Zearo take off from the balcony window. I knew they were dangerous and I should have stopped him, but I was hurt, too. 

“Are you sure he was sober when he left?” I asked Aliyah, wiping out the tears that rolled down my eyes while my legs didn't bother halting as I circled the room being a nerve wreck. 

“He has a high tolerance level for alcohol. Be it a local one.” She mentioned, and I sighed, still getting tensed about how things went wrong under my watch. The thunder heightened my uneasiness making me uncomfortable.

“I don’t know how things could escalate like this when I had everything under my control.” I shook my head, cracking my knuckles as I was getting anxious about the situation. 

“Not everything goes as we plan, Liara. Anthony is on his way toward Muris’s office. He will help Zearo if something goes wrong.” Agnes said, but it didn’t help lessen my anxiety. 

“No one is going to say anything to Chloe. It’s her big day.” I reminded them as we heard the music booming in the hallway. 

“Of course..” they all said in unison. 

“Do we have any security footage of that area?” I asked as I walked towards the window, gazing at the night sky without any twinkling stars.

“They are all under Muris’s control. They have strict security when it comes to business.” Aliyah said, frustrated perhaps she wasn’t able to break through the barrier. 

“You guys should be with Chloe. She will doubt if there’s something wrong if we all disappeared at once.” I suggested. 

“What about you?” Aliyah asked. 

“She knew I had tequila. Pretend that I am fast asleep.” I said, shrugging my shoulders. And with the utmost difficulty, I convinced Aliyah and Agnes to join the party, as Vikrant would not buzz from beside me. 

“I’m going to sleep,” I said, pointing at the door and gesturing for him to get lost, but he shook his adamant head. 

“No, you are not.” He said, placing his seat comfortably on the chair and smiling at me. I bet he knew well that I would not get any sleep tonight.

“Vikrant,” I let out through gritted teeth.

“Liara, he is a mafia don, for God’s sake. He knows how to take care of himself, okay? Stop stressing so much.” He retorted, and I just sulked at the corner. There was something that kept bothering me. As if our last thread of having a healthy relationship was about to end.

“Can you connect me to Anthony? I don’t think I will rest until I hear him.” I confessed, sighing.

“Okay,” he said and instantly connected to Anthony. 

“Anthony, what’s wrong?” He asked in an alarmed voice when we heard some gunshots. 

“I’m searching for Zearo as I parked away the car from the warehouse and he was no nowhere there,” Anthony spoke in a hushed tone. I bit my lips, imagining what would have happened.

“Perhaps he went toward the basement, where they might have kept Isabella hostage.” He continued further, making me even more anxious than I already was. 

“I will meet Muris and see if we could talk this through.” He suggested, and I instantly shook my head. 

“No, we should not show him we are anyway related to Isabela. It’s not a small transaction that she was after. We shouldn’t be on his bad side if we need to build our empire here.” I said as Vikrant stared at me wide-eyed. I heard Anthony sigh and, for a second, I thought I could just bring him back. 

“What do you want me to do? You are making me nervous here.” He confessed, and to be honest, I was nervous as well. 

“Mask yourself and follow Zearo’s trail. We will wait for you outside of the warehouse.” I said, surprising myself. 

“Are you kidding me?” Vikrant and Anthony both yelled in unison. 

“What else do you think we can do at this moment? Somehow, her information got leaked because of us and we have to think of a way to amend it with him. And again, I don’t want this to impact my business.” I said.

“You cannot float in two boats at a time, Liara. You are bound to fail.” Vikrant said. 

“Then I better take the fall alone instead of someone’s mother,” I whispered, making myself ready for the upcoming task at hand.

“Vikrant, do you think we can manage that?” I heard Anthony and for a second I was worried that he might get hurt, but I didn’t want to take chances by allowing some unprofessional to do the task.

“We have to. We don’t have any choice. And for your kind information, we have only two hours to complete this shit. Shan Li shouldn’t know about this. He will kill me right on the spot.” I laughed at how he feared Shan Li. 

“That guy will go crazy if he finds out what we did behind his back,” Anthony said and I nodded, as this was definitely what Shan Li would do. 

“But I’m not risking Liara’s life. Vikrant, you come with Aliyah or Agnes.” Anthony said, and soon after we heard muffled sounds and a loud thud. I scurried out of my bed and looked at Vikrant, who had the same perplexed expression as me. 

“What happened?” I asked and Vikrant tried to connect to Anthony but it was to no avail. 

“I’m going. You stay here and rest. You are still lightheaded. And I promise you we will bring them both back safely.” Vikrant said, but I needed to do this myself. I would not risk everyone’s life for me, at least not like this. 

I had to think of something. I stood rooted to the ground and looked around for something. I didn’t know how and what to do to let him stay. He would not let me go with him, and I needed to bring them both safely. 

“Ouch.” I winced as I stumbled upon the floor mat and my hand hit the juice glass beside Vikrant. The entire liquid fell on him, staining his dress. 

“Oh, man.” He cursed, and I stood back up, composing myself. 

“You alright?’’ He enquired, checking if the glass pierced my skin as it broke as soon as he dusted it on the floor, but I was alright. 

“I’m good. Go wash it off before it gets stained. Take anything from Zearo’s bag and wear it for the time being.” I gestured at the suitcase resting on the table as I realized the juice had spoiled his entire attire. 

“I will be back and you will take a rest.” He said and walked away from me towards the washroom. I placed a palm on my chest, as my heart was unstable from the very beginning. The alcohol slipped away from my brain as the anxiety and tension crawled their way back into my brain. 

“I’m sorry Vikrant,” I whispered and threw my sandals away from my foot and changed into comfy shoes. Covering my face with a hoodie that perhaps belonged to Zearo considering how oversized it was and it smelt like him, I made my way sneakily out of my room making sure no one saw me. I heard the water dripping down the tap making sure that it’d take some time for Vikrant to come out, so I grabbed his car key that was parked out of the building. 

“Please be safe,” I whispered as I felt the heaviness in my heart as if someone was keeping on piling weights on it. 

I looked carefully around every corner of my path making my way from the backdoor and not the elevator as I knew my team wouldn’t let me do this and I desperately wanted to be of some help to Zearo, guilty for whatever happened to his mother. 

I ignited the car and set the destination according to Anthony’s last location. Making sure I hide from the guests or Chloe’s family; I rammed into the accelerator when I heard Vikrant’s voice calling out my name. My heart beating faster as the thrill, or whatever you call it, had me on my toes. 

Taking swift turns, I crossed the busiest roads cursing how the road was crowded at the bloody midnight. Unfortunately, I was unaware of the roads and turns of the town we were in. I never met Muris, as Anthony and Vikrant said that it was very dangerous to be in the same room as him. My club in California had been on lease under his name because of his influence, and it was a pretty good deal. 

“I hope you are safe.” I sighed and whispered when I got down to a clumsy road and god had always planned surprises for me so I saw a few droplets pouring onto the mirror and the glass of my car. “Great.” I hit the steering wheel angrily as the rain started pouring heavily all of a sudden accompanied by thunder. 

The harsh rainfall and the car’s headlight blinded me and did little to no help as the reflection on the bumpy road made my ride even more difficult. “Almost there,” I said to no one in particular when I saw that my location was near to where Anthony was last located. 

“Now where do I go?” I racked my brain as I slowed down the car when I saw Muris’s men encircling the area. That’s when I knew I was going to enter Muris kingdom, and that wasn’t what I planned to do. 

Taking a careful u-turn, I changed lanes and found that I entered a forest area surrounded by large trees. The alley was too dark to see the bumps and holes making me hit my head on the car’s upper ceiling. I noticed I made it towards the farther end of the building. Furrowing my brows, I squinted my eyes, trying to focus on the structure and my surroundings as the raindrops made it harder to look clear. 

I switched on the heater to clear the fog on the glass of the car. It was as if I entered a cave or something because of the darkness that surrounded the establishment. The building looked rusty as the thunderstorm fell on it once in a while. I was amid trees, hovering upon each other and the muddy pathway kept on stocking on the wheels. 

When I noticed that Anthony’s signal was blinking and perhaps I was on the wrong route as it didn’t show any drive path on the map, freaking me out. Keeping my head on the steering, I calmed my mind and focused on my next step. I was alone and asking for their whereabouts was a big no as right after I clicked on the dial menu, Anthony’s signal was gone. 

“What do I do?” I tapped my leg on the floor and considered moving forward and found a clue on my way. 

Pressing the accelerator, I drove towards the path that stuck beside the building within the shadows of the trees. Slowly I sped up my speed when I saw a headlight making its way toward me through the rearview mirror. 

“Liara!” I heard an unclear voice, but soon after, as it came closer to me, I saw all drenched Vikrant riding a bike making his way right beside me. 

“What the hell?!?!” I screamed, seeing how poor his condition was. Quickly unlocking the door, I asked him to enter inside, and he did, throwing the bike aside behind an enormous tree. 

“What do you think you were doing?” He exclaimed, and I winced. 

“Start the car and drive!” He gestured at the back where we saw a few lights switching lanes. Perhaps their patrols. I quickly turned on the engine and drove carefully towards God knows where. We were both clueless and frustrated when we saw we could hardly find any way out of the forest that was so dense. 

“Holy shit!” I cursed louder and pressed the brake harder as if I’d seen a ghost when I felt something or someone crashing into the car. I just wished I didn’t kill that person or any animal. My head jerked into the sudden impact and I hit the steering wheel, wincing at the sudden impact. 

I slowly lifted my head and squinted my eyes to see through the heavy rainfall and the reflection of my car’s headlight but I saw no one. I calmed my breath and switched off the lights, trying to look at whoever was in front of me. Whether it was a log of wood? I wondered. 

I heard a sudden bam on the bonnet of my car and jumped on my seat surprised. Slowly, I saw a silhouette crawling into it. “Zearo?” I furrowed my eyebrows as I saw Zearo staring back at me with blood dripping from his forehead. I gasped and shuddered with shock when I took in his attire. Scurrying out of the car, I rushed toward him as fast as I could.

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