FABIANO “They’re not nightmares.” He sneered, “They are memories that try to haunt me when I am asleep.” Nono sighed, shaking her head. A picture of despair. “Do you want to talk about it, son?” She asked, rubbing his cheek lovingly but he shook his head. Nono knew how stubborn he was. But she also knew that he needed to face his demons so she left the topic. “When are you going back?” She asked, changing the topic but he tensed and graced her with a sarcastic smile. “Eager to get rid of me.” She raised her brows at him, “You know you can stay as long as you want.” His eyes softened, a rare occurrence. “You need something?” He asked her, taking her hand off hi cheek and kissed her meaty palm. “You already sent supplies for Venus.” “I asked if you need anything.” He rolled his eyes, “I know that Venus has everything but I asked about you.” “No.” She smiled at him, “I have everything, thanks to you.” Fabiano nodded. He made sure his Nono had everything because she was the
ARIA That night; Soft touches on my bare thigh drew me from my slumber. In my state of half-consciousness, I brushed them away thinking that it was Fabiano touching me. But my mind knew it wasn’t him. His touch wasn’t soft or gentle. It was rough and brutal. So, who was it touching me? I groaned in my state, kicking my legs to get rid of the touch and sighed into the pillow when the touch was gone. But it wasn’t actually gone. It was on my stomach now, creeping up to my breasts. My eyes clenched, I exhaled, slowly waking up when a sharp pain on my breast woke up completely. I jerked, gasping at the attack, eyes snapping open when they connected with so familiar ones. Grey. They were so similar to Fabiano’s but they weren’t his. Before I could scream, something sharp pricked my neck, like a needle. Through my blurry eyes, I watched the person in front of me, trying to get a vivid look but failed. Before my eyes rolled into the back, I heard the words that gave me chills of f
ARIAA sharp sting on my cheek yanked me out of unconsciousness. My tongue felt heavy, and my mouth dry like a sandpaper. I groaned, wanting to open my eyes but it was like someone had glued my lids together. Sharp, stinging pain bloomed over my cheek again, making me force myself to open my eyes.I blinked my eyes to adjust them to the light around me. It was a moment later that I realized I was tied. A shiver creped up my spine, fear danced over my skin as the horrifying realization sank inside me.I was tied.My eyes were wide open, scanning my surroundings in a second, trying to take everything in as panic started to sink its ugly claws in my core.My breathing deepened when I looked down at myself.I was naked.Utterly and completely bare.I was trying to coerce myself not to panic when suddenly, a hand landed on bare breast, making me scream in fright.“Hush.” A voice hissed to my left, “Hush, you slut.”I tensed, the terrifying mixture of shock, panic and throat-constricting fe
ARIA“Alara will pay for your foolishness.”I thought I was dying when my heart skipped a beat or two.Alara.My little sister.A person I hadn’t spoken to in so long.A girl I cared about. But she was not a girl anymore. She was a woman.A woman I hadn’t thought about in months.My blood.With a dark smile that told me that she would do what she had said, I watched in utter shock as she stepped back and vanished behind a wall.What was happening?I looked down, my eyes falling on the pictures that were lying around me. I crawled forward, picking one of them and acid rose in my throat, burning me.The picture showed Alara.She was in the garden, her eyes crinkling as she was laughing at something. Her head was fallen back, she was dressed in a red dress, three small figures around her.I recognized the two of them after a moment.The dark-haired twins.My nephew and niece.Leona and Konstantin.But there was another baby, probably a boy, clinging to my sister’s legs, peering up at her
ARIA“Why did you do it?”Why did you fool me?His metallic grey eyes were glaring at me, daring me not to answer his questions. I didn’t want to answer his questions. All I wanted to do was scream at him, strangle him and ask him why had he done this to me.I was back at the starting point again.I was back at the point where I was asking myself the questions I had asked before and had received no answers.Why was I so weak?Why was happening to me?Was something wrong with me?Was I sick and rotten inside?“Aria!” I snapped out of my thoughts and stared up at him through half-lidded eyes.He was angry. No, he was livid.His eyes were darkening and I knew that in a few moments, they would turn into soulless pits of black.Why did you lie to me?I wanted to ask him but I couldn’t.A shadow loomed over me, I blinked at the large figure—Fabiano as he leaned over, bracing his arm on the bedpost as he glared at me with so much venom that it made me question myself why I wasn’t dead yet.“
ARIA‘Gideon is alive.’It was the first time that when I closed my eyes, I prayed that they would open again. “…what I said?”When I had woken up, I had found Fabiano looming over me. He hadn’t once left me alone.I so wanted him to leave me alone so I could go into my room and see if the woman was telling the truth or was she weaving a web of lies?It took me a few moments of remember everything correctly but once I did, I found myself believing the woman.I hadn’t really seen Gideon dying.Fabiano had never mentioned my friend again. Ever.What if Gideon was alive?I could feel a part of me getting happy and bright at the thought of seeing Gideon again. But the remaining of me was worried.What if Fabiano found out about everything?The woman, whoever she was, was clever. She had pictures of my sister that were taken from the mansion. I knew that Adriano was no fool and he was possessive. The security around his mansion was top-notch and he had increased the number of guards aroun
ARIAWe were friends but here in this office, Gideon was the CEO and I was his assistant. That’s it.With shaky hands, I tore the envelope open and shook it. One by one, the pictures fell down in the marble basin as I released a choked breath.I let the empty envelope fall to the tiles as I forced myself to pick up a picture.My heart seemed to stop when my eyes fell on the picture.A scream formed in my throat, rising up with every second that passed.Happiness and shock filled me to the brim but it was replaced by horror in a second.“Gideon.” I breathed out, my eyes starting to water as pain washed over me, mixed with dark horror.I brought the picture near to my face, examining it to tell myself that my eyes were deceiving me but …“No.” I whispered into the silence, “No…it can’t be.”With an outrageous cry, I whirled the picture away and snatched another one and scanned it.It was the same. The thing I thought was a lie was actually a truth and it was in front of my eyes.Why did
ARIA“What the fuck are you doing?”My head snapped up so quickly at the angry voice that raised red flags in my mind.I pressed my lips together, forcing myself to regulate my breathing. If he saw me breathing so vastly, he would have some serious doubts.He barged inside, pushing the door so hardly that it made a loud sound when it collided with the wall.I turned myself, leaning my back against the cabinet under the basin, and hid my trembling hands in my lap.He eyed me with suspicious eyes, taking me in as I sat on my knees on the floor. My eyes flicked past him and collided with Lina’s. She looked at me warily before her gaze flicked to the cabinet and back to me. She eyed me like she knew something and every friendly feeling I ever had for her disappeared leaving behind a ball of suspicions inside me.“What’re you doing down there?” Fabiano questioned, halting in front of me. I was at eye-level to his pants but I looked up. He looked so huge and big from down here, like he was