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 heALICE'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
ALICE'S POV A month passed. It was like time skipped past us and I was unable to catch it. Everything was my kind of normal. After the day I came to Ace's house, he quit his job at the Castillo Corporation. A stupid move. But it turned out, he was offered another good job abroad and he had to leave in a month. He wanted to take me and Mom along with him. Ofcourse, Ace did not let me leave after that day. He was hellbound on keeping me here - away from Hayes and Damien. I agreed with him this time. Partially ofcourse. I met Hayes twice. Somehow, Hayes and me were friendly now, because there was no dispute left between us. And Damien... I met him too. Many times actually. Damien and Me were stuck in some weird kind of situation. There was a silent agreement between us, that stated.. ...We were never going to get too close. We stayed at arm's length, just letting the silence do it's work.
DAMIEN'S POV Alice left. Two months had passed since I left her at Lincoln Villa and after that, she left the city. Her brother and Mother had left the country and I was surprised she did not leave with them, but I was relieved that she did not go. It would have been hard to know her whereabouts once she had left the country. At first, I knew where she was. I kept an eye on her just to make sure that she was okay and once I knew she was fine, I let her go. It was a really cruel move if I still kept an eye on her. It was not fair to her and it was not fair to me either. She was free now. She did not owe me anything and that's why she had the right to live her life however she wanted to live. During this time, I had spent the most of my days in the penthouse. Alone. That's what I was doing even now. I was standing by the glass wall in her room to stare down at the city while ran poured
ALICE'S POV I groaned out when the phone did not stop ringing even after an hour. I had began to get angry now. Who the hell would call me so early in the morning?! I had just managed to fall asleep and now these calls. Finally deciding to curse the one who was calling me, I tapped the side table with my hand to find the phone in the dark while my eyes refused to open. My hand found the phone and I picked up the call. My mind was drifting back to sleep as the ringing had stopped. “ Are you still sleeping Alice?! ” It was Mom's voice shouting at me. My eyes flew open just like my body shot up. My hair were poking out in all directions and my eyes were red from lack of sleep. A smile still managed to break out on my lips when I saw that it was not a voice call but a video call. Her healthy face came into my view and my smile widened some more. Mom looked fine and happy.
ALICE'S POV “ Damien. ” I whispered, my voice sounding foreign to me. After I left him, I never said his name out aloud. It was traumatic. It made me miss him even more. My eyes welled up my with unshed tears, as I saw him in the dark. I was not even able to see his face but I knew it was him just by his voice and his scent that lingered everywhere around me. Then, he walked to me. Each step he took was like the death of me. He walked until he was standing right in front of me. The little light coming from the kitchen window lit up his face. Hesitantly, I dragged my eyes up to meet his gaze but when my eyes landed on those steely grey - dark and enchanting orbs, my heart dropped but landed on a soft cushion. Instead of going into a breakdown and crying my heart out, I felt total calmness and serenity engulfing me. I did not feel like this for a long-long time. I could fee