ANMELDENEDRICK'S POV"Our men have already followed every possible trail. There is no sign of her," John said, pointing at the footsteps on the ground. The trail was from the car and ended on the road."You think she hailed a cab?" Alina asked.That made sense. She crashed her car and hailed a cab. Now, catching her will be harder than ever."Edrick, you still haven't explained how you found out she did it. What evidence do you have? We need a statement in order to get a legal arrest warrant."I went quiet, my mind trailing back to Anna again."One of the witnesses confessed.""Well, bring them to the station for a proper statement. In the meantime, we will keep searching for her."I nodded in response.Alina and I were back in the car and on the road again.It took another hour to get back to the Vale mansion."Where is Anna?" I asked Hannah, who was in the living room.She stood up, worry in her eyes."Edrick," she said, fighting back tears. "Uncle refused to let her leave the house. So she
ALINA'S POVI should have had worry or pain in my heart when Anna said it. When she said, "Well, why don't you come tell your sweet Edrick how you gave the orders to burn Alina to death."I should have felt even if it's a little tremor. But all I felt was relief.I wasn't hallucinating. I wasn't wrong all these years. What I heard was true. Aria was the one on the phone. The one who asked them to burn down the place. It was her. It was really her.Anna was mad. She was mad. She thought Aria had spilled her secret. That means they were keeping each other's secrets all this while.She picked her phone to call someone. I didn't know who.Well, at least not until the phone began ringing from the entrance.Edrick and I exchanged glances. We were a bit lost. At least, until Anna said, "Oh, so you're here! Why are you hiding?"It was Aria. Aria was there.Without another thought, we all raced to the door.But all we saw was a car driving out of the tall gates of the Vale mansion."She's gett
ARIA'S POVLast night, Edrick ruined my life. It was bad enough that I could not use any of my cards. I told his useless father to make him fix it, but that man seems to be scared of him. What's worse? Edrick's good-for-nothing lawyer, Levi, sent me a new document and revoked the first one.Levi came to the Vale mansion himself and said some nonsense about how these were the new divorce clauses, and I had just three days to sign. If not, there would be legal action taken. The stupid clauses were impossible. I knew Edrick was leaving me, but why was he taking everything he had given me? The house, my cars, every valuable I had, and worse than that, no monthly allowance.Reading the papers got me feeling dizzy.There had to be some mistake. I am his son's mother. My son is the heir. He cannot just leave me with nothing. He can't. I called him. I called him a thousand times. He didn't pick up.I knew he was with that slut, Liana. I swallowed my pride, put my dignity aside, and called the
ANNA'S POVANNA'S POVHannah had called me that Edrick wanted to see me.She called me again after 5 minutes and told me to hurry up.I had asked her what the matter was. She said nothing, I should just come.I wish I did not listen. I wished I had run off to another state to start a new life.Because even though I tried to think of a thousand reasons why he wanted me home, I did not imagine what I met.Edrick was in the living room, yelling at Dad about something.I was asking what the matter was, but I could not even complete my sentence when Edrick turned to face me. A black nylon bag in his hand.At that moment, I knew exactly what the matter was.He just found my wraps.My wraps.I had no words.My mind was reeling. I was thinking of a thousand excuses.And what hurt me the most was the fact that I was going to lose this supply just like I had lost the last one to Adrian yesterday.I fought through life and death to get this much supply.Fuck. I am in debt because of it.Last nig
Edrick's POVI wasn't able to sleep well last night. Alina's words kept ringing in my head. Everything she said about Anna bothered me.What has she been up to? And I have been too busy to even notice my sister was going through something.I tried to make sense of the story, hoping I would be able to guess what was going on, but nothing came to my mind.Anna has never been a problematic kid, so why was she involved with weirdos now?I did not even bother eating breakfast. I just showered and got ready to move."I want to come with you," Alina said.Aria might be home, and I didn't want any drama, but I also did not have the strength to say no.We drove to the Vale mansion in silence, aside from the few "It's going to be alright," Alina threw in once in a while."Welcome, sir," the staff that opened the door said. Her eyes glanced between me and Alina, probably building up some juicy gossip. But we didn't mind her. I held Alina's hand even tighter and made my way upstairs."Edrick!" Ha
ALINA'S POV"Fuck! We lost her!" Lila gasped for air.I didn't want to give up, but she was right. Anna was far gone. It's like she's very familiar with the roads."What if she's in some kind of danger?" I asked, staring desperately at the direction she had gone through, as if she would pop out any second."I think she will be fine." Even as Lila said those words, uncertainty dripped from her tone.We started walking back to where we had left the car. Guess we cannot do anything to help her. What was she even doing with two weird-ass men? They looked dangerous. What were they fighting about?"Do you think we should tell Edrick?" I asked.I really was scared for her. Really. What was she up to? Why was she involved with people like that? The questions would not leave my head.Lila started the engine, and even as she drove off, we both looked around, hoping to see her."I think something is up with Anna," Lila said."Like?""I don't know. I just feel it. She isn't normal like before. Sh
Edrick’s POVHer lips tasted like something I couldn’t describe, sweet, soft, and dangerous.I kissed her deeper, hungrier, like I’d been starved for years, and she was the only thing that could satisfy me.At first, her body was stiff. Frozen.For a second, I thought she’d push me away. But then h
Edrick’s POVI didn’t know what the hell came over me last night.One minute, she was yelling at me with tears in her eyes, and the next, I was pulling her into my arms like it actually mattered. I hated that. I hated that I couldn’t watch her cry without something twisting inside my chest.Aria Va
Edrick’s POVShe was shaking so hard I thought she might break in my arms. And for some reason, it felt like I was the one falling apart. My chest tightened with every sob that escaped her lips, and I held her closer, like maybe if I held on tight enough, I could stop her pain from spilling any fur
Alina’s POV When I opened my eyes, the first thing I felt was warmth.Edrick’s arms were wrapped around me, firm and steady, like he was protecting me even in his sleep. My face was pressed against his chest, and I could feel the slow rhythm of his heartbeat.For a moment, I didn’t move. I just br







