I walked out of the building and kicked the pebbles in the backyard, where I reached to release the pent-up anger that was locked in my chest. I was heaving with anger. Frustrated with how things turned out, I was angry at myself. 

I punched the nearby apple tree that was in the backyard. I felt as if everything was laughing at my condition. My brain felt foggy, and I hardly was in the mood to think about anything. I winced as my hands brushed off the injury in my abdomen. Although Ahmed took the blow, I felt the cut of the knife on my waist. 

Looking at the orange sky that was slowly coming to life after the stormy night, I sighed as the water droplets through the leaves of the tree fell onto my face. “You’ve survived the stormy nights. I wish I could, too.” Racking my hands in the place I had just hit, I smiled painfully at the tree. 

Taking my time and inhaling the fresh air after the rain, I walked towards the dead-end of the cottage. Looking at how healthy the plants around the house were, the people must have taken fantastic care of them all. The color of the cottage is peaches in the middle of the green plants. It somehow calmed my nervous heart. 

Too much to think about just in a day, and I perhaps was not ready for that. Kicking the broken branches of the trees around the cottage, I made my way toward the main door, but my legs stopped as my eyes landed on the figures inside the cottage. 

Tiptoeing, I for a second, thought it was wrong to hear them talking behind their back but was desperate to know as I'd never seen Liara so broken. 

She had her face hidden in Anthony’s large body. They sat crouched beside a glass door that was partially ajar, making her hair flow with the wind. 

“I. I don’t know what to do.” I heard her faint voice. She was crying? Her voice was broken, and so was she. 

“Ahmed’s death wasn’t your fault.” He whispered to her, pulling her a little closer into a tight hug. I sighed and rested my head on the nearby wall beside the glass door where they both were talking. I felt like an outsider. 

Considering how she reacted like nothing happened when Anthony told her about Ahmed’s death irked me. I overheard their conversation back then and felt that she was being rude. He helped us get out of that building, which was a dangerous task, considering how less hurt we were. 

“I feel suffocated.” I heard her whisper. Her voice cracked at the end and I fisted my palm, controlling my urge to help her out. But maybe I would have made things worse. 

“Liara, you need to rest. You are shivering.” He cooed like talking to a baby. 

“His mother blamed me for everything that happened to her. She said my secretary…leaked her information.” 

“We will talk to Aria about it later.” 

“No, she will be hurt if I charge at her directly with no proof. Even if she did what we think she did, I will have to listen to her part of the story.”

“You are overexerting yourself. You haven’t slept even a minute worrying about him.” She was worried about me? And I was so rude to her. 

“My heart feels so heavy right now, Anthony. I wish Aria was not the one who did this.” I wish that too. I wanted to say but I couldn’t. 

“Liara..”

“I’m so sorry for what happened to Ahmed. We couldn’t deliver him to his family to perform his last rites. I’m the reason for his death.”

“Oh, will you stop blaming yourself for everything that happened right now?”

“You also blamed me for that, even if that was for a minute. I saw that in your eyes.” 

“Liara, I was upset after I saw him dying and not able to do anything. Even after what he did to you, he was our friend, whether we accept it.” What happened back then?

“Past is past. I will have to take care of the aftermath.” And then there was complete silence. Neither of them talked for a while, and I walked away from them. 

She was in pain but chose to not show that to me or anyone else. I was certain that Liara wouldn’t want my mother to be hurt, and whoever leaked the information did that behind her back. It suddenly compelled me to lessen her burden. 

I’ve seen the strong-headed Liara but never saw her so broken. Perhaps she was living just a facade and perhaps she was broken from the inside, too. 

“I will have to do something,” I whispered, and dusted my hoodie while walking inside the cottage. Determination in my mind that somehow I would help her overcome the sadness built inside her heart. She deserved happiness, and I perhaps failed to play my part before, but not now. Perhaps at least I should consider how she changed my life. 

My heart was not in my control, and perhaps I was ready to give it all. We both were broken and had a dark past. She accepted all of me and why was I taken a backstep? I wanted to be by her side be it for a few months. 

“Liara..” I trailed off, unsure how soon I reached the door where they both were. Fidgeting on my legs, I contemplated how to talk to him,r and then the door opened slowly, revealing Anthony and his glorious eyes glaring at me. 

“She is not in the mood for you to pile more dirt on her. Your mother did enough.” He whispered through gritted teeth, closing the door from behind and pushing me back. 

“I’m not here to play the blame game,” I said honestly. Glancing at the closed door, I wished I could hug and comfort her as he did. 

“Then why are you here?” He questioned. 

“I’m here to pick my wife to attend her friend’s wedding if that’s okay with you,” I said and forcefully pushed him aside. His bulk body was hard to move. 

“Let her be. Please.” He said, holding my hands that we’re on the lock. 

“Perhaps now I would start behaving like a husband,” I said, looking into his eyes, relying that I was genuinely concerned about her. 

“If you ever dare to hurt her again...” He trailed off and honestly, I was not in the mood to explain myself or reason with him at the moment. 

“Look, I’m trying to be okay. I just need your help to lessen her burden. She might get sick of how stressed she is always.” Perhaps it was the only right thing that came to my mind. He was close to her and to lessen her burden, I needed to think of something. 

“You have only three months left. What can you do in these months? Let her be.” He mocked and scoffed. 

“If I could even lessen her burden for like about ten percent, then, I will think I’ve done something positive instead of only hurting her.” I pressed the bride of my nose as I was slowly losing my cool. It was already stressful and my injury didn’t subdue even after I took all the painkillers that the doctor prescribed. 

“Anthony?” I heard Liara’s faint voice behind the door. And we both fell into complete silence. I twitched my fingers, contemplating how she will react or if she would even let me be with her after what happened to her earlier.

“Zearo, why are you here?” As soon as she opened the door, our eyes met, and I took a few deep breaths when I saw her face. It was so red, along with her nose. Her hair was a tangled mess, and she looked so strained. 

“Well, you have your friend’s wedding to attend,” I said in a monotonous tone, suppressing my urge to hold her and soothe her crying heart.

“Yeah, I remember. I will be there in a minute and you please take care of your mother. My people will pick you up in an hour and will take you somewhere safe through our private plane.” She informed me and started dialing some digits on her phone. 

“I’m going nowhere, honey,” I said and held her hand. She looked at me, surprised, with furrowed eyebrows. 

“I’m attending the wedding with you. Others will take care of my mother.” I said, throwing a glance at Anthony. 

“No need. Stay with her. She needs you.” She said.

“You need me too,” I whispered into her ear as I closed the distance between us both. I saw her visibly tense because of our closeness, and she staggered a few feet back. 

“Don’t be ridiculous. Didn’t you say that finding your mother was the only thing that was the most important for your entire life? You left your great empire to find the answer to your questions.” She spoke. I knew what she was doing and honestly, I couldn’t agree more. 

“My mother is not in the state to answer any damn question at the moment and considering your power, you will take proper care of her until we both reach back our house. So let’s concentrate on the work that’s urgent at the moment, shall we?” I asked. I knew she would not let her slip through her hands this time. She promised to find my mother, and she did. Now it was my turn to return her the favor. 

“Oka,” she whispered back to me and entered the room but not before slamming the door in my face. I winced at the sound of the door and took a step back. 

“You are a dickhead, you know that?” I heard Anthony speak behind me and I could just shrug my shoulder at him because he was her precious friend and they would kill me on the spot if I harmed him. Not that I cared anyway. 

“Aren’t you the same?” I said and walked away from him towards the apple tree. 

“Here, wear this.” I heard Vikrant as I was staring at the greenery ahead of me. 

“What-“ I choked on my words when I saw him wearing my clothes. 

“You are wearing my clothes.” I pointed at him. 

“Yeah.” He said and shrugged it off.

“Here, these are the clothes you will wear for Chloe’s wedding. Get ready soon.” He said and threw the cover at me and walked away. 

My questions just stayed on the tip of my tongue as I watched him walk away from me. “Fuck you.” I cursed at no one in particular. 

I was realizing if this world was worth my escape from my real life.? All these things would end when I find the answer to my questions. As I watched my mother on the bed, I found it hard to believe, as the only thing I was in search of was almost on my hands, but why did it feel like I was walking into nothingness? 

“Master.” I turned around, realizing someone was tapping on my shoulder. 

“How did you come here?” My question slipped through my mouth before I could think about it. 

“Miss D’Waner asked me to escort your mother to her mansion,” Charles said, and I looked at him, surprised. 

“Oh, her private jet was in the SAMS, so I just traveled like that.” He shrugged his shoulder and ran his hands through his hair. 

“Oh.” That was all I could say. It was as if she always was two steps ahead of me wherever and whenever we had any issue. 

“And..” His voice faded, and I waited for him to continue, but he stayed muted by scratching his neck. 

“Charles,” I called his name and urged him to speak up. It drained completely my body and mind and I didn’t bother to wait for him as I noticed he would not blurt out whatever he had in mind. Walking towards a vacant room inside the cottage, I rubbed my eyes because I was so tired. 

“Master, we found her mother.” I felt a shrill pain in my head and as if I’d stepped on an electric wire, my body jolted away in an instant. I whisked my head towards him, and he looked at me and nodded. 

“What did you say?” I asked, feeling unsure about one of my senses.

“W.. We found a clue about her whereabouts. She is alive, Master.” He concluded. And I racked my brain, contemplating how to accept this piece of information. The situation got even more complicated when I heard a faint voice behind me, “who is alive?”

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Hello beautiful readers, I'm sorry that I keep you waiting for the updates. I feel guilty but my exams are ahead and I'm quite busy with classes and all. But I promise I'm going to update a few chapters at a time for you all to cover up with the time and in return please wait for the updates until I'm done with my exams. I will be updating some chapters today and the next updates will be in January. ❤

Please stay with me and not leave me because I promise it will be worth waiting for. ❤

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