16.

Zara.

I stirred gently in my sleep and opened my eyes briefly, taking in my surroundings. The past few days seemed like a blur and I barely remembered what happened.

‘Where are we?’ I murmured to Nia, trying to get everything into focus.

‘I believe this is our room,’ she responded, reeling from dizziness. She too was trying to piece together the events of the previous day, or however long we were out for.

Very soon, everything began to look familiar. The vanity table that had a pinkish hue which I’d gotten ready at a few days ago, the thick velvet rug that covered almost half of the flooring in the room, the high ceilings, and the gorgeous chandelier in the middle of it. It was the room Chase had prepared for me.

I tried to sit up when I felt a gentle pressure on my body, and I looked to my left to see Chase sitting on a chair by the bed, his head and arms on the bed beside me, fast asleep.

‘He’s asleep,’ Nia said, more of a statement than a question. There was a hint of amusement