LOGINAria's POVPlans changed. The driver was now dead.I parked the car, then moved to the front seat.I did not want my clothes stained with more blood than they already were, so as carefully as I could, I pushed his body to the passenger seat.There was an old, filthy rag lying in the car. I grabbed it and wiped the blood from the driver's seat and the steering wheel as thoroughly as I could.I looked at the man one more time. The blood in his open neck was slowly drying up. I shook my head. I have never seen this much blood in my life.I forced my gaze away, then I started the engine.I didn't drive straight ahead or reverse.I turned left.According to the Maps app, if I kept going in that direction, I would get to a big open lake.And it wasn't wrong. Because fifteen minutes later, I could see the body of water.I pressed the accelerator pedal hard. The closer I got to the lake, the harder I pressed it until I was sure it was going at a speed that could not be stopped.I was just a f
Alina's POVI sat down in the main living room of the Vale mansion. Waiting.My feet tapped the marbled floor, and my hands played drumsticks on my thigh. Edrick and Hannah were talking to Anna, and I would be a liar if I said I did not want to be there to hear everything she knew about the case.But Anna wanted only family, and I could not blame her. She had every right.I took a deep breath, leaning back on the sofa.After this, then what? Will Aria get caught? And after that, then what? Anna stays a witness in court? What about Edrick and me? Will we finally get to be together, or was I just dreaming too hard?"Who are you?" The voice snapped me out of my daze.I opened my eyes, and standing above me was none other than Edrick's father, Mr. Vale, with the most bitter scowl on his face.I sat up, but I did not answer his question. I had no answer in mind. He already knew me as Liana Bennett, and that was enough."You are here to ruin my family," he added."No," I said, my voice comi
ARIA's POVMy favourite SUV crashed into a tree. The view should have been horrifying, but I had better things to think about. Better things to worry about. Things like getting out of this. Not going to jail.I did not have time at all. Once they get me, I am done for. Anna will stand as a witness in court. They will dig up more shit, and I will be in jail for Alina.Alina, who is already ashes.I stopped the first car that I saw passing the road. Lucky for me, he was a nice old farmer."Sir, I am stranded. Can you please take me to the nearest store?"The man frowned, probably wondering what a person who was just in an accident wanted to do in a store, but he did not question me.He opened the front door of his truck, and I hopped in.The drive was long, which I was grateful for. The farther I got from the scene of the accident, the harder it would be for them to track me.The old man dropped me by an old, dusty store with a roof falling apart. If it wasn't for the open sign hanging
EDRICK'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
Edrick’s POVI just sat there for a moment, staring at the screen long after Adrian ended the call. My fingers were still curled around the phone, stiff, like my hand refused to move. My chest felt tight. My father. Unconscious. Everything inside me twisted with worry, fear, and anger all mixed tog
Alina’s POV“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath.The moment the Dr Nala stepped into the villa, my whole body went cold. I tried to smile, to act normal, to pretend my heart wasn’t about to explode. But my palms were slick with sweat, and even the air felt too thick to breathe.“Good evening,” she
– Alina’s POV I knew I should have left the cinema the moment he walked out. That would’ve been my chance, my escape. But I didn’t move. I sat there, frozen, my fingers brushing over my lips where his kiss still lingered. It felt like my whole body was holding its breath, waiting for something
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







