LOGINTiara's Train is almost over but not just yet. We did conclude Liam tho (unless something changes) so, yay... February is exams through out (until the very last day 😭) I will try to keep updating but forgive me if I skip some days. See you all in the next chapter!
Adrea sat under the studio lights, hands folded loosely in her lap, her posture relaxed despite the faint hum of nerves in her chest.The interview room was small, minimalist, all muted greys and soft lighting. Across from her sat Chichie, legs crossed elegantly, cue cards in hand, her smile professional and warm.Behind the camera, just slightly to the side, Aris leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. The crew bustled quietly, but he noticed nothing beyond Adrea. There was pride in his eyes, unmistakable and unguarded.She had just secured her ticket to the year’s World Poker Tournament.It still felt unreal.“First of all,” Chichie, the interviewer said, “congratulations on qualifying for the World Poker Tournament. It is not an easy feat, and you did it with remarkable composure.”“Thank you,” Adrea replied, her voice calm, a soft smile curving her lips.She felt Aris’s gaze on her and resisted the urge to look back. That would come later.Chichie glanced at her cards.“Your
One Year LaterFelix was already on his feet when the shouting started.The common room was never quiet, but there was a particular tone that carried differently. The kind that made the guards look up from their desks, the kind that drew a slow circle of bodies around a brewing confrontation. Felix recognised it instantly. He had learned to, during his first brutal months inside. Back then, that sound had meant danger. Now, it meant opportunity.The man in front of him called himself Rook. Not his real name, but not many used their real names here. Rook was a broad-shouldered, tattooed, loud, imbecilic. He had arrived six months ago and had made the mistake of thinking Felix was still the quiet, untouchable rich boy who paid for protection and kept to himself.That assumption had lasted until Felix corrected it.“Say it again,” Rook growled, stepping closer.Felix tilted his head, faintly amused.“I thought you’re just stooped and careless. Apparently, you’re also hard of hearing.”Roo
The park was quiet in the way suburban parks always were on weekday afternoons. Children’s laughter carried over the grass, punctuated by the rhythmic creak of swings and the soft thump of footballs hitting the ground. Dogs barked in the distance, owners calling after them with varying tones of success and frustration.Rafael stood near the entrance, hands in his pockets, eyes scanning the winding paths.He felt oddly exposed.Strangely, this public park felt unstructured, almost intrusive in its normality. People walked past him without recognition, without expectation. No one cared who he was here.He spotted Belinda immediately.She was walking toward him along the gravel path, her posture composed, her pace steady. A small white dog trotted beside her, its lead held loosely in her hand.And then he saw her stomach.He stopped walking.He had known that she was pregnant. That knowledge had not prepared him for the sight of her.Her belly was round, prominent beneath her light coat.
Rafael had not realised how heavy the year had been until it was suddenly over. The trial had ended. Felix had been sentenced. The chaos that had swallowed the Nikolaidis name had finally quieted to a low, distant hum. There were still headlines, still whispered conversations in rooms he walked into, still a faint shadow trailing his surname, his mother was not talking to him (he could not decide if that was a blessing or not), but the storm itself had passed.He felt lighter.Relieved for himself.He had spent so long reacting to disasters that he had forgotten what it felt like to just be. Now, for the first time in months, he could focus on what mattered.Belinda.Or rather, the child in her womb.He stared at his phone for a long time before unlocking it.Her name was still saved in his contacts.Easy to find.Avoidance had always come easily to him when it came to personal matters. But there was no avoiding this. There was a child. His child.He exhaled slowly, thumb hovering over
The courtroom felt different on the day of the verdict.The air was tighter. Heavier. Less theatrical, more final.Adrea did not attend.In his defendant’s corner, Felix Nikolaidis was bored.He leaned back in his chair, his hands loosely clasped in front of him, his gaze drifting from the judge to the ceiling to the rows of benches behind him. The trial had been long. Painfully long. Testimonies, objections, experts, character witnesses, digital forensics specialists. He had lost track of how many days had blurred into each other.He had stopped caring about the narrative weeks ago.He had never been particularly concerned with the truth. Truth was malleable. Narratives were malleable. What mattered was control. Right now, he had none.He shifted slightly, adjusting the cuffs of his suit, his posture languid and faintly disinterested. Anyone looking at him might assume he was confident. Unaffected. Detached from the proceedings that could define the next decade of his life. This he co
Adrea realised how nervous she was the moment she sat in the witness waiting room. She could hear the muffled pulse of voices through thick wooden doors. There was a rhythm to a courtroom that did not exist anywhere else. The deposition weeks ago had been brutal. The actual trial was nothing like she had imagined. It was part ritual, part performance, and entirely merciless on her nerves.A lawyer knocked lightly on the doorframe.“They are ready for you.”She nodded, smoothing her hands over her skirt. Her palms were damp. Her heartbeat was loud enough that she wondered if the microphone in the courtroom would pick it up.Aris was not here to hold her hand. She had not realised how she had come to depend on that side of him.Either way, even if she had been allowed to see him before their testimonies, this was not his battle. At the end of the day, she would be alone on that witness stand.A man that Adrea had decided to assume was some type of court clerk or the judge’s assistant (ma







