ALICE'S POV
“ Nothing... ” I lied nervously, before moving towards him and then past him to leave the study room.
He did not seem like he knew I was going through the album or I even saw the picture. Maybe, he got that picture when he was running the background check on me.The picture was from the time I went to Maldives five years ago. I was sitting at the shore all alone, while I watched the breath-taking sparkling water. It was at night that everyone decided to sneak away and go to the Vaadhoo Island. It's a beautiful and faded memory, as I think back to it now, but the night was not entirely pleasant as I recall it.It was lonely and scary.Sighing, I went to the dining room and sat down on one of the chairs still thinking about it.Damien knew everything about me. Everything.
He knew about things even I could not remember anymore. It was scary how past always stuck to us.ALICE'S POV His body tensed up and he froze altogether while I broke out of my trance, realizing what I had done. I pulled my hand back, my eyes going wide at my own actions. “ I will call you later Alder. ” Damien hung up on the call and sighed out, his shoulders moving up and down as he did it. I gulped my saliva and glanced at my hand, that was still hanging in the air close enough to be able to touch him, by crossing just the distance of a finger. I did not know what took over me, when I crossed that finger's distance and touched the scar again. This must have hurt. Badly. More than I could ever imagine. A lump started forming in my throat. I felt hurt not for myself, but for him. I was unable to understand this connection between me and Damien. My fingers slowly slid down his back, tracing the long scar with my eyes taking in the sight before me. “ Alice. ” There was a clear warning in his voice, a
ALICE'S POV “ Alice. ” Damien's soft voice woke me up. Blinking my eyes open, I stared at him confused at what he was doing sitting on his toes in front of me. “ What happened? ” I croaked out and glanced down to find myself dressed in one of his shirts again. I sure slept like a dead body when he was around. Lifting my gaze, I met his steely grey orbs and a bad feeling made my head hurt instantly. His eyes were cold just like his expressions, but there was just a feeling telling me that there was something wrong. “ Get dressed. Alder is here to take you back. ” He sighed, his eyes boring into mine. A wave of shock hit me hard. It was just last night that he was hellbound on not letting me go then what changed now? I thought we had some sort of moment right there. I could feel it. “ What happened Damien? ” I asked again, pushing myself in a sitting position. Damien was still on his toes, his eyes follow
ALICE'S POV“ You have to come with me Alice. ” Hayes grabbed my wrist, his eyes still staring at Jonas Lincoln warily. Before he could start pulling me along with him, Damien came and held my other hand. I snapped my head back at him to find him glaring at Hayes. For a moment, I was dumbfounded. I failed to understand what was even happening. Hayes wanted to take me somewhere and he was angry at Jonas Lincoln for some reason. Damien was furious at Hayes and he did not want me to go with him. Now, he finally decided to look my way. And Jonas Lincoln, he was just watching me trapped between these two idiots. “ You can't go with him. ” Damien ordered me again and my newly activated stubborn side decided, that I would not listen to him as long as he was so demanding and pushy. Damien needed to understand that I was not bound to him anymore. I could do what
ALICE'S POV “ Tell me Mom. ” I urged her to get it over with already. I was tired of all these secrets. Leaving my hands, she averted her eyes away from me and fixed them in front of us instead. I followed her line of sight and my eyes landed on our family photo hanged on the wall. A lump formed in my throat when my eyes stopped at my father's smiling face. Happy times. There were happy times too. “ Jonas Lincoln and I studied in the same college. He was not this rich then. ” Mom's voice caught my attention and I turned my head to look at her side profile. Was she going to tell me how she cheated on my father now? “ We were friends. ” She added and turned to look if I was paying attention to her. “ We were just friends. ” She repeated her words, detecting the anger in my eyes that was directed at her. I kept my mouth shut wanting for he
ALICE'S POV My head was hurting while Hayes observed me the whole drive back to Jonas Lincoln's house. “ You shouldn't be here Alice. ” He had spoken up when I was about to get down from the car. “ I shouldn't be anywhere. ” I had replied before I left him behind. My feet took me inside. Mom's words were like a nail getting hammered inside my head. If I was not so numb and dead inside, I might really be dead by now. When I made my way to the living room, I heard some sounds coming from inside. I stopped just across the wall to listen in. “ HOW COULD YOU BRING HER WITH YOU DAD?! ” It was Madison who was screaming at Jonas Lincoln. “ AND HOW COULD YOU GIVE HER HALF OF YOUR ASSETS?! ” She sounded like she was crying while she yelled at Jonas Lincoln on the top of her lungs. “ She is my daughter. ” Jonas Lincoln's answer came shortly and I felt like my legs were weak. How could he say it? I was not
ALICE'S POV Picking up the call, I placed the phone beside my right ear while my eyes were fixed at the small cabin in the distance. “ Why are you not in Lincoln Villa? ” His deep voice that resonated through the speaker, made me gulp. Always so straightforward. No greeting. No hi, hey, hello. Just why I was not where he left me. “ I have some things to do. ” I replied nonchalantly, noticing the movement in the distance. The cabin's lights were turned on and then Jonas Lincoln walked out of there to go to the forest. Why was he going there? I frowned, feeling confused. “ What things? ” His voice sounded in my ear, but I was too busy in keeping an eye on Jonas Lincoln. “ What things Alice?! ” He repeated the same question with an animalistic growl, making me shudder. He called me Alice whenever he was serious or angry.
DAMIEN'S POV Her voice made me sure that there was something wrong with her. I came to take her with me, to send her somewhere safe. I came to Lincoln Villa but she was not here. I wanted to tell her things - important things. It was all my fault. I should not have stopped keeping an eye on her, while I was busy dealing with everything after my father's death. Then there was Madison too. But in this moment, I only felt scared. For Alice. “ Trace the phone number's location. ” I had asked Alder right after she hanged up. Calling her would only waste my time, because I knew she was not going to pick up now. ' Find me in time Damien. ' Her words kept echoing in my ears and I was hellbound on finding her in time. I had to find her in time. Just as Alder got the address, we both set out to reach there. The drive was awfully long. We were in a forest now.
ALICE'S POV Just as I opened my eyes, I found Damien by my side. Once again, he was there when I was at my worst. This made me realize I was still alive. What a stupid realization. Ofcourse, I was alive. That was why I could feel his gentle touch on my hand. And like all the emotions decided that they wanted to turn this worse moment into the absolute worst, I started crying. I cried and thrashed and screamed and cried some more until Damien had to hold me down. I did not know why I was feeling so frustrated once again but I just wanted to cry so I could feel normal again. Or perhaps, I was just so sad because I tried to die and failed to do that too. But whatever it was, I was relieved that I could finally feel everything. From one thing to another, my thoughts kept jumping around making me cry harder. Dad. Mom. Ace. Damien. Jonas Lincoln. I cried