My heart beat louder and my hands shook when I took in his attire. In the dark sky, the rainwater drenched his clothes, and he was staggering. “Liara?” He spoke. It was as if it took all his energy to speak my name. 

“What happened? Get into the car.” My hands shook as I touched him. He winced whenever I contacted his body. It was as if he was injured everywhere. 

“Mom.” He whispered, and I tried looking in the direction he pointed his finger at. 

“Anthony?” I attempted to recognize the figure that came into my view through the forest amidst the trees. 

“They are following us.” I looked at Zearo, who was now beside me. We both were drenched but didn’t care to get in as I slowly recognized the body that Anthony was carrying. 

“I asked Vikrant to not let you come. Did he not heed my words?” Anthony glared at me. I shifted my weight on my legs but didn’t reply to him.

“As if she ever heard anyone.” Vikrant snapped from inside the car. 

“Let’s get in and away from their territory.” I rushed towards the car and opened the backdoor and soon made my way to the driver’s seat. 

“I will carry her inside,” Anthony said to Zearo, who was advancing toward him. Vikrant jumped into action and cushioned her. Isabella was lying unconscious as her damp hair stuck all over her face. 

“Get down, I will drive. They are catching up. We need to run.” Vikrant said frustratingly.

“We don’t have time for that. You hop in or I am driving off from here.” I said and started the car, to which he cursed louder and pushed into the back seat. We all were drenched, and I noticed Anthony, Zearo, and perhaps Isabella was injured too. Feeling as if our life depended on how safe I drove off them, I took a swift turn back to the lane I came. My ears felt closed off due to blood rushing through all my veins because of the intensity of my nervousness.

I was nervous and perhaps scared. Through the dark alleyway, I tried my hardest to pass through all the trees and bushes through the heavy rainfall as the car bumped continuously into the holes in the uneven road. I kept on apologizing for hurting them. Through the rearview mirror, I saw cars tailing me. My grip around the steering wheel tightened, and I felt a hand gripping my hand. 

“It’s going to be alright. Drive safe.” Zearo whispered. He smiled as I looked into his eyes. I genuinely was trying my hardest to not crumble, as this was not the time to be helpless. I closed my eyes for a second and took a deep breath. Locking my eyes on the road, I fixed the location of a place I found safe at the moment, and before that, I had to ditch those cars that kept on approaching us at an alarming rate. 

“Buckle up,” I said to everyone and sped up the car, cutting towards the left side of the forest. The cars kept on increasing their speed in the heavy rainfall. The clouds didn’t stop pouring, and the cars behind us were not in the mood to stop as well. I knew not to stay idle and if we had to get past them, then I had to think of a way. 

“They are fast approaching. We need to do something.” Vikrant said, and I nodded, switching off the car’s headlight. I was taking a leap of faith and an enormous risk. Everyone was silent inside the car, and I was thankful for that. 

“Drive right.” I heard Zearo, and when I looked at him, his eyes were fixed on the road. I focused back on my driving and did as he said. We both drove past the large forest without switching on the headlights during the heavy rain of course not before crashing at some points. 

Muris' men slowly lost our trail as the rain grew heavier and we hid behind a cave-like stone when the road was completely washed off by the rainwater. I cursed internally as I heard Isabella wincing whenever I made a mistake, but thankfully we reached safely the place I planned to.

“Where are we?” Zearo asked as his voice was strained. 

“Somewhere safe.” I was not in the mood to tell him about this cottage. Perhaps I would never. 

“Get down. My men will discard our trails and secure the perimeter. We will have to fly back as early as possible.” I said, getting down from the car and throwing the keys to my men who were stationed outside of the building. 

Aliyah somehow found out about the mess I made and then did the arrangements with the help of Agnes. I inhaled as we stepped into the cottage. Old memories flooded inside my mind, giving me shudders. 

“Towards the left.” I pointed at the now-open door, and Anthony and Vikrant carried Isabella toward the room. I held Zearo back and studied his tired face. He had brushes all over his face and bloodstains on his shirt. “You are injured.” I pointed when I touched his wet hair. 

“I am fine.” He snapped, giving me a pang of pain in my heart, but I tried to reason with his behavior. Perhaps he was worried about his mother. 

“Nanny is going to take care of her and after I treat your wound, I will go help her,” I said, and even if he was denying it, I dragged him to another room. 

“We brought this tribal doctor.” I heard Anthony who stood outside of the room I dragged Zearo into.

“Okay, bring him here. He is injured.” I said when I pointed at the injuries on Zearo’s body. I tore the handkerchief I carried and tried to wrap it around his injured head to stop the bleeding. 

“I will bring a set of clothes for you to change into. And you also get changed.” I told Zearo and then Anthony, to which he just stayed silent. 

“Anthony, what is it?” I asked after I placed another piece of cloth on Zearo’s abdomen. Zearo being grumpy was understandable, but Anthony was silent, too. 

“Anthony!” I walked out of the room tailing Anthony, who didn’t reply to me and left me behind. 

“I’m asking you something,” I repeated. We all were tired, but that shouldn’t be the reason for him to behave this way with me.

“Ahmed is dead!.” He spat frustrated. I froze where I stood. My ears stopped hearing. Perhaps I didn’t know how to react. We stayed in silence for about a few minutes, but then we heard Isabella’s voice. 

“We will talk about this later,” I said and rushed inside the other room where Isabella was. I felt too numb to even react to what I had just heard. Perhaps I was to blame for everything that happened. Perhaps I killed him. I shook my head and walked inside to see Isabella looking at the door, clueless. 

“Where am I?” she asked again, to which Nanny said nothing. Vikrant looked utterly frustrated, so I nudged him to go out and get changed. 

“You are safe.” I tried to talk to her. Reaching closer to her, I cradled her hand, to which she flinched, and when our eyes met, I felt a hard chill landing on my cheek. I touched the area where it burnt and realized that she had slapped me. 

I staggered a few feet back and fell on a hard chest. My eyes burn with the overwhelming feeling. As if everything that happened to me came crashing at a time, making my hard exterior crumble. 

“What’s wrong with you?!” Zearo clutched my shoulder and glared at her. She was in pain, and he was, too. I wanted to keep him away, but to my dismay, the words she spoke next felt like I was about to handle him now. 

“Who the hell do you think you are to abduct me like this and bring me to where this whore of a woman is.?” she exclaimed. I guess she wasn’t that injured by how she was fuming. 

“I’m the only son that you thought of throwing away when I was an infant.” He spat with the same intensity as her. I stood in the middle, not knowing where to go. He had me caged into a hug from behind, securing my body within his. I felt comforted, but he was breathing unevenly. 

“What?!” she exclaimed. 

“Yes, my dear mother. I’m Alfredo. Your son.” He said slowly letting me go. I looked at his face which held so much anger and pain, but I couldn’t do anything. 

“I guess this is enough to let you know how heartless you were.” He spat and showed her a small locket I had never seen him carrying. It surprised me when she started crying as soon as she held the pendant. Being Zearo as a barrier, I wasn’t able to look at the pendant clearly and felt like an outsider, so I walked away from him, slowly stepping outside, but then heard him again. 

“And the woman who you just slapped is my wife.” I felt a grip on my wrist and my head turned toward him. Anthony and Vikrant stopped outside the room, maintaining a small distance, but still ready to come in when required. 

“She is what??!!! No!! She is Villain Liara D’Waner!” she spat at me. I tightened my hold on the hoodie I wore to keep my attitude in check. 

“Don’t you dare speak evil about her” Zearo said, and I felt he shouldn’t take my side, at least not now? 

“I will leave you guys alone,” I whispered to him, to which he adamantly shook his head.

“And for who blew your cover, I am sure that wasn’t Liara who ordered her secretary to give up on your information.” My secretary? What was he saying?

“You know nothing, my child! She is a devil in disguise.” She glared at where Zearo held my hand. I tried to break the hold, but he tightened his hold even more. 

“I’ve had my reasons for what I did to you, and I’m ready to face the punishment. But I will never accept her as my daughter-in-law after what I’ve been through because of her.” She glared at me.

“Ha, then I shouldn’t even accept you as my mother for what I’ve been through for all those years after you threw me out of your life.” He laughed and mocked her for how she had reacted earlier. 

“Keep your discussion for later. She is in shock and needs complete rest. I suggest you leave this room now.” The tribal doctor pointed at the door and Zearo walked out of it, not giving her or me a second glance. 

Due to how close I was to him, I could feel his heart beating irregularly and fastly. I took a step towards the exit, but then I heard her again.

“You think you will take him away from me? I will disclose all the things that you’ve done, to him and then will let him decide if he will keep you forever with him.” She taunted me. 

“Didn’t I already have too many enemies that did not satisfy God, and he added another one to the list?” I whispered to myself as I walked out of the room. I still had my wet clothes on within the hoodie, as I hardly had time to change. It was so suffocating that I removed the hoodie and threw it on my way.

 I felt wrinkles form on my hands, considering I was out for the entire night. 

Not knowing where to go, I walked aimlessly toward where my body took me. It was as if I was controlled by my heart and not my mind. I knew where I was heading and desperately tried to stop myself, but my legs planned something else. 

Slowly, I opened the door of the room I was not ready to enter. It had a musky smell because of the closed atmosphere. I walked straight towards the floor-length window beside the bed that was covered with her favorite silky white curtain with dandelions dropping on them. 

My fingers touched the curtain and my heart felt heavy. I crumbled onto the floor and covered my face in the need to hide my tears from the world. I wrapped my hands around my knees and laid my head on the border of the window as my heart was about to explode with all the emotions built up. 

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