Nothing added up, nothing at all.

    It was either Mia lied about everything or her mom did.

     "Stop looking at me like that." Mia said, snapping him out of his thoughts.

  Ryan exhaled... "You look beautiful that's why." He said, smiling halfway.

   "Thank you." She gave a small smile. "But seriously, how are you?"

    "Better than yesterday. Thanks for asking. Do you mind —"

   "Mom?" Mia interrupted, looking startled behind Ryan.

   Karen walked towards them. "Mia? Hey!" Karen grinned, walking up to Mia.

     Mia stood up, giving her mom air kisses. "What are you doing here?" Mia asked Karen.

     "I came to see a friend, what are you doing here?" Karen asked, not taking note of Ryan.

    "Mom," she turned to Ryan. "This, this is Ryan." Mia said looking at Ryan.

   Karen turned to Ryan. The smile on her face diminished slowly.

    "Ryan, this is my mom." Mia smiled down at Ryan.

    Ryan stood up, extending his hand towards Karen. "Good afternoon ma'am."

    Karen stared at his hand for a moment before accepting it. She pulled her hand away quickly.

   "Shall we leave now?" Karen turned back to her daughter with a fake smile.

    "Now?" Mia frowned. "S-sure." She nodded, looking at Ryan. "Um Ryan, I have to go now."

     Ryan nodded slowly.

   "Dear, I'll follow. I think I forgot my purse." Karen said to Mia.

     "Okay." Mia smiled before leaving.

    Karen watched Mia leave the restaurant before turning to face Ryan.

    "So it's you." Karen shook her head. "It's you. After all these years, you still find a way to get into my family." Karen scoffed. "Stay away from her, don't you dare think of coming close." Karen said to him coldly.

    "I know you hate me but I don't plan on letting her go." Ryan said firmly.

     "If you think you can find your way back into her life then you're mistaken. I won't let you. This is me being nice, stay away from my daughter."

     "Does she know you've been lying to her? That her life is only a perfect illusion of what you want from her?" Ryan was so close to the truth. "You think changing her identity will cover up for her past? Mia isn't really Mia is she? Mia's been dead and you chose to give her your dead daughter's name. I can't be fooled easily... I know that she's Sophie." He wanted to know the truth. His heart was aching for the truth so he had to pretend he knew the truth for the truth to finally come out.

    "What does it matter that Mia and Sophie are the same? If I were you, I'd keep my mouth shut. You have no idea what she went through because of you, and if you do not want her to know that you abandoned her, you'll leave her be." Karen said to him.

    Ryan staggered back, looking down the floor... His head was spinning.

     Mia was Sophie? She was Sophie?! It was all making sense now... No wonder she always felt like a familiar feeling around him. She was always there and he couldn't see it. Sophie was alive, she was alive!!! His baby girl was alive!! He couldn't breathe anymore, he clutched his chest, he was going to collapse because he was hyperventilating.

    He gripped the chair so tight that his knuckle turned white, his eyes were red filled with confusion and anguish as he was in short of breath.

     "Sophie..." He whispered to himself before looking up. Karen wasn't there anymore. "Sophie." Ryan said before dashing out of the restaurant. Frantically glancing and head turning, trying to find Mia but there was no sign of her.
✴✴✴✴
      
         "What's wrong with you? You look like you've been visited by a ghost. Your hands are trembling." Mia said, pointing at Karen's hand. They were both seated at the backseat of a car, going home.

    Karen fisted hands... "I'm tired that's all." She said with a quick nod.

    Karen might have acted bold earlier but deep inside, she was scared to death. Ryan knew Sophie was alive!! What if he told Mia the truth about everything? Mia would never forgive her.

    "So... I take it that you had a talk with Ryan because you never left your purse. It was with you. So I'm guessing the 'I think I forgot my purse' line was an act. What did you both talk about?" Mia asked her mom.

    Karen cleared her throat... "Nothing important. I just asked, if he was bothering you." Karen dismissed it, waving her hand carelessly.  "My dear, where did you meet that Ryan?" She tried acting like she wasn't interested.

    Mia leaned back against the seat. "Our first encounter was quite funny." She scoffed remembering the first time she encounted Ryan. "I gave him a punch because I thought he was a pervert, it turned out that he was my boss and client. We've known each other for a month now, and he was the one I told you about." Mia said to Karen.

   Karen raised a brow at Mia. "Who?"

    "Ryan is the man I accidentally married, the one I have feelings for." Mia said quietly.

    "What?" Karen looked fluttered.

   "But it's okay, it's okay." She touched Karen's arm. "I did what you asked. Ryan and I quickly got an annulment." Mia assured her mom.

    Karen gulped nervously... "Now that you've settled everything, can you promise me one thing? I don't want Ryan close to you, believe me when I say I have a bad feeling about him." Karen gave Mia's hand a little squeeze. "He's bad news." She smiled. "I can't wait for us to go back to Italy my dear, let's not delay any longer. Okay?"

   Mia frowned at her... "I take it that you don't like Ryan then." Mia was a bit disappointed that her mom didn't like Ryan.

     Karen noticed Mia's expression, she lifted Mia's chin. "Sweetheart, there are plenty of guys out there! You're so beautiful and young, any guy would be lucky to have you." Karen smiled, encouraging Mia.

    "Beautiful, maybe yes. But young? I don't think so." Mia rolled her eyes.
.....................................................

    "Guess what." David said to her.

    "What?" Mia asked, turning to him.

    He had taken her to a nail salon to get her nails done.

    "Guess."

    "David I'm not good at guessing." Mia said, turning back to the lady fixing her nails.

    "I made a decision. I plan on moving to Italy." David smiled.

   Mia is forced to look at him. "What?"

        Mmhmm." He nodded... "You're willing to give us a chance, so I thought of a plan to bring us closer. Mia, I'm not letting you leave me here. I'm going with you to Italy."

     "Why? Why did you decide that?" Mia frowned. She wasn't expecting him to say that. "There's no need for that. David we're just friends." Mia dismissed her attendant.

     "That's the point. I want to be more than a friend and you leaving for Italy isn't gonna help achieve that."

     "David listen. You just can't follow me everwhere I go. You're my friend and hurting you is the last thing I want to do. Joining me in Italy won't change how I feel about you and it's simply platonic." Mia said. She'd only told Ryan that she was planning on dating David so that she could get Ryan off her back.

    "Mia I've made my decision. I'm gonna keep trying till I win you over. Nothing you say will change my mind." David said firmly. "I know, that, one day, you'll feel the same way. I just have to try harder."

    "David you can't just—" Mia's interrupted by her ringing phone. "Could you help me get that?" Mia said to him.

     David picked up her purse... "It's someone called," he gave her a weird look. "Pervert dude?" He scoffed. "That's funny."

    Mia's quick smile was fake...

   "Do you want me to pick or..."

   "No!" She said sharply. When she saw David raise a brow, she cleared her throat. "What I meant to say is, no. Don't answer it."

      David nodded, placing her phone back into her bag after it stopped ringing. Then it rang again and again and again.

     "Are you sure you don't want to answer? It might be important." David said to her as the phone rang for the sixth time.

     "Can you turn it off please? I mean the phone." Mia requested of him.

   David turned it off and turned to her. "Do you mind if I ask who it is? The person just doesn't know when to quit."

    "It's just someone. It's not important." She shrugged, relaxing against her chair.
✴✴✴✴✴

    It was two am in the morning, Mia was fully awake trying to compile some designs she needed to give Julia. She'd been blocking Ryan's calls because he couldn't stop calling her, and just when she unblocks his number, he calls again.

    Mia groaned out.. "What is wrong with you Ryan?" She said to herself before answering the call. "Can you quit calling m—" she sounded pissed but the voice she heard next wasn't Ryan's.

    "Hey um, your friend kinda passed out here at our bar. Can you get here to pick him up because he's wasted." The male voice said to her.

    "Ryan passed out? Where is he?" Mia frowned. The man gave her an address which she scribbled down on a paper.

     "One question, you're a friend right?"

    "Yes." Mia said nodding.

   "Okay I'll wait for you."

   Mia got up from her chair, she looked at her outfit —pink shorts and crop tank top. She walked out of her room and dropped a note on a table saying where she was off to.

    Good thing there was a taxi willing to take her. She arrived at the empty bar in fifteen minutes, looking for Ryan. She saw Ryan sleeping with his head turned down on the counter top. 

          She hurried over to him... "Hey." She stood behind him, rubbing his back.

    "Are you the one taking him? The one I called?" The man behind the counter asked her.

    "Yes. Thank you, I'll take it from here." Mia thanked him, looking back at Ryan. "Ryan?" She rubbed his back again. "Ryan wake up, we gotta go. Ryan?" Mia cooed softly.

    Ryan stirred up slowly. Turning to Mia, he tried to focus on her. "M-mia?" He squinted at her. 

   "Let's go." Mia stroked his hair.

   Ryan threw his arms around her waist, hugging and resting his head in her stomach. "Please don't leave me, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please forgive me, I broke my promise to you." Ryan said, hugging her tightly.

     "Ryan you're drunk, let's get you home hmm?" Mia said to him.

   He broke away from her, trying to stand but he almost lost his balance. Mia caught him quickly, throwing his arm over her shoulder.

    "Jeez! You reek of whisky. How much did you drink?" Mia frowned, trying to balance Ryan properly. She turned to the bartender. "We're leaving now, thank you."

     "Sure." The bartender nodded watching Mia stagger while trying to move Ryan along with her.

     She had spotted his car parked a stone throw away from the bar, so she trekked along the pavement. She took hold of his car keys, opened his car and placed him at the backseat.

     "God you're heavy!" She said, trying to make him more comfortable. She went around the car, using the other door of the backseat to join him. "What's wrong with you? Why the hell are you drunk by this time?" Mia reprimanded Ryan.

   Ryan groaned... "Don't talk." He sat up, leaning in on Mia. Facing her squarely. He placed his hands on the door, trapping her between his hands. He kept staring at her, every detail of her face.

    "Ry-ryan, you're scaring me." Mia's heart raced. She'd never seen this side of Ryan. He kept looking at her like he was looking for something.

     "Tell me what I can do for you to forgive me." His eyes watered.

     "What do you mean?" Mia saw the tears in his eyes, and it scared her more.

    "I... I never stopped loving you. I always believed that you'd come back to me. Your eyes, your lips, your face, your hair. You dyed your hair." He said with his ragged breathing.

     "Y-you're d-d-drunk." She stuttered.

     Ryan allowed the tears run down his cheeks... "I'm sorry." He crashed his lips on hers and she didn't know when she kissed back. The kiss was gentle and slow but passionate at the same time.

    Mia pulled him unto her, adjusting their position without breaking the kiss. He trailed kisses down her jaw, down her neck.

     "What's wrong?" Mia asked in a whisper, allowing Ryan ravish her with kisses. He pushed her gently for her back to rest on the door. "Ryan, talk to me." Mia raked his hair with her fingers.

     Ryan remained silent, assaulting her neck with his kisses. 

   She couldn't deny that she was loving every bit but she was curious to know why he was behaving the way he was. 

   "Let's... Let's slow down." She said breathlessly. Stopping him from kissing her.

     Ryan inched away...

    "Sober up first, okay?" Mia placed a hand on his cheek. He nodding, backing away. Ryan leaned back on the chair. "It's getting late, I'll take you home." She said to him. Mia got out of the car, going to the driver seat.

     It didn't take long, Ryan fell asleep as soon as Mia hit the road. Twenty minutes, she arrived at Ryan's. Mia glanced at Ryan through the rearview mirror and sighed. She passed through the gates as she wasn't questioned —the security might have thought it was Ryan driving the car,  driving into the compound of Ryan's house. She turned off the ignition, she got Ryan out of the car gently.

   "Ryan!" It was Layla. She was running towards Mia and Ryan. "Oh thank God." She said, clearly worried.

     "Take him." Mia nodded, handing him over to Layla.

      "What happened?" Layla asked holding Ryan with care as he leaned against her.

    "I only got a call from a bar telling me to come pick him up." Mia tucked her hair behind her ears.

    "Thank you so much Mia. You have no idea how worried I was that something happened. He wasn't picking my calls." Layla said calmly. "I'm really sorry for the trouble." Layla apologized whole-heartedly.

     "It's no trouble at all." She took one last look at Ryan. "I better get going, it's late." Mia gave her a quick smile.

     "I'll ask the driver to take you home." Layla said to her. "It could be dangerous out there."

     "No, it's fine thank you. I can handle myself. You just take care and have a good night." Mia said to her.

    "Are you sure? It's the least I —"

     "It's okay Layla. I can manage on my own." Mia said, handing over the car keys to her.

    "In case you need help please call. Thanks again." Layla thanked her. "I owe you one for this." She said with a smile before headed for the entrance of the house.

    Mia sighed as her conscience pricked her. Layla didn't deserve what Ryan and she was doing to her. It all had to stop.
.....................................................

   Ryan woke up the next morning with a mild headache. There was no one beside him meaning Layla was already awake. He got up, walked into his bathroom to get a pain killer, brushed his teeth and then rinsed his face off.

    He soon walked out of the bathroom, meeting Layla in the room. She was holding some folded towels on her hands.

    "Good morning." She greeted him with a smile.

  Ryan nodded, walking towards the entrance of the room.

   "You came home drunk last night. I was really worried about you." Layla said to him.

     Ryan turned back to Layla. "I'm sorry." That was all he could say.

     Layla made her way to him, dropping the towels on a table. "Ryan if there's something bothering you, please tell me. I've noticed that you hardly want me around you these past few days, is it something I did wrong?"  She placed her hand on his cheek.

   Ryan sighed... "Layla, I just need a little space and it has nothing to do with you. I'm just going through something right now, I hope you understand." Ryan spoke with all honesty before walking out of the room.