4

Yaria's POV

...

Night had approached, and I was exhausted from handling documents.

Stretching my back to loosen stiff muscles, I got up from the chair and hit the sheets, legs splayed out, hands clutching my plushie.

Unfortunately, even after several minutes had passed, I couldn't have the luxury of drifting off, not when my wolf was hellbent on convincing me that Drake was the one for me.

"Tricia, please stop this. No matter what you say, I will never accept Drake into my life." I upbraided her.

Thanks to his father, a happy family of three was separated forever, two to the cold hands of death.

Thanks to his mother, I lost my scholarship. 

Thanks to him, I was the butt of ridicule in high school. Thanks to him, I wanted to attempt suicide three times.

The Sawyers are a despicable bunch I never want to associate myself with.

"This matter is decided," I told my wolf with a scowl.

I don't want to see that man again, but if I inevitably do, I'll reject him.

Tricia can go to slumber for a decade if she wants, I don't fucking care!

Suddenly, my phone rang, and Antonio, the company's night security guard, was on the phone.

I could hear him huffing and puffing, and there was some chaos in the background. My brows furrowed, and an unsettling feeling took root in my gut.

"Ma'am..." he began with a choked-up voice.

"What is it?" I asked, my tone curious and impatient.

"The...the company,"

At that, I felt apprehensive. An ominous feeling took form in my gut. 

"What happened to the company?" I questioned him.

"on fire... It's on fire!"

He didn't speak after that.

"Hello? Antonio, are you there?"

I heard screams and an explosion in the background. 

"Antonio?!" I yelled again, but at that very moment, the line went dead.

Panicked, I called him again, but he wasn't answering the phone.

I sprang out of bed, put on my cat-ear flip-flops and rushed to the closet to make myself look presentable.

With my phone in hand, I rushed out of the room, heading for my aunt's room.

Getting there, I knocked several times, but no one was answering. I had the urge to kick down the door, but I kept myself restrained and continued knocking.

Eventually, I had to force the door open. Entering the room, I saw no trace of my Aunt.

Her phone was on the bedside cabinet, buzzing repeatedly.

"Aunt Lisa!" I called three times, but no one answered me.

I found the window open.

That was weird. The AC was on; what was the need for that? Or did she want mosquitoes to feast on her blood?

The bathroom door was open- she wasn't inside.

Where was she?

Just as I'd decided to head downstairs in hopes of finding her, I unexpectedly heard someone weakly calling my name.

I thought it was just my ears playing tricks on me, but then I heard it again and again.

And the voice was getting fainter. That was... my aunt's voice.

I whirled around, my eyes scanning the entire room once more, but I still couldn't find her.

Where was she then?

I rushed to the window, and, to my shock, found a body lying on the ground.

I immediately leapt out of the window, landing a bit terribly, but I didn't mind that. I rushed to my aunt and helped her rest her head on my chest.

"Aunt Lisa? Aunt Lisa!" I cried worriedly. How did this happen?

"I'm glad... you're okay," she managed to say with a shaky voice, bringing her hand to feel my face.

"Don't worry, Aunt, I'll take you to the hospital," I reassured her, willing back tears. "You'll be fine, I promise."

"No need, dear. It's... too late," she told me, her eyes closing. Her hand also dropped to the ground fast, eliciting worry from me.

"Aunt... Aunt Lisa?" I called worriedly, but she wasn't opening her eyes. She wasn't replying...

I brought my trembling fingers to her nose.

No breath.

At that moment, I froze, eyes widened.

Then, I shook my head in denial as black blood seeped from her mouth.

"No. No."

My aunt couldn't be dead. I wouldn't accept that. She was the only family I had left. Someone I dearly loved.

I wouldn't give up on her, I won't let her die.

I scooped her into my arms and rushed towards the parking lot, yelling Frander's name.

...

CelMort Hospital.

...

I sat on the waiting seats outside the ward where my aunt was.

I tried to hold back the tears, but one snuck down my right cheek, setting the stage for the others.

My hands were tucked in between my thighs, and my shoulders trembled as I silently wept.

The doctor's words recurred in my head.

"She was poisoned. She was brought here too late."

My company's fire was still on the verge of being quenched by firefighters. Thankfully, there were no casualties.

And here was my aunt, lifeless.

Who did this?

I was enraged, I wanted to punch anything, to vent out my frustration, my pain.

But I had to hold myself back.

My aunt was gone. I was now alone in this world.

My phone started buzzing, but I didn't care to look who it was.

It buzzed repeatedly, and I decided to see who was so persistent.

It turned out to be Layla, our housekeeper.

"What is it?" I asked, my voice choked up as I sniffled.

"Miss, the house..."

At that, I stood up from the chair abruptly. "What happened?"

"I... I wasn't around. I had gone to fetch some items that were running short in the kitchen from the food market." 

"And...?" I asked her, curiosity and disquietude already gnawing at my insides at an alarming rate.

"I... the house... is on fire." 

"What...?"

I wanted to believe my ears were playing tricks on me.

"We're trying to put out the fire, and then, there was an explosion. Miss..."

I couldn't hear whatever she was saying afterwards. I felt the world spinning around me; the phone tumbled from my fingers.

My knees felt like jelly, and before I knew it, I was falling to the ground.

Just then, a hand caught me.

"Yaria..."

It was my mate's voice.

Why did he catch me? He should have just let me fall; I wanted nothing to do with him!

As he helped me to stand back on my feet, I fell back two steps away from him with a scowl.

"What are you here for? To laugh at my sorrow?"

He wore a mystified look, "I was on my way to see a friend who's admitted here,"

"Drake, believe me, if I find out that you Sawyers were responsible for everything that happened to me tonight, I will make you pay!" I growled. Then, pivoting, I started walking away from him.

"I don't..."

I paused in my tracks and turned to him.

"Say nothing. Better start praying your family isn't involved." I yelled with my chest heaving.

Then I continued with my exit.

Drake had brought nothing but bad luck into my life. I haven't seen him in years, and there was some peace then. 

Now he's shown up in my life again, and this happened.

I hate him!

...

As I made a bend in the hospital corridor, I started using the walls to support myself.

I didn't want to let Drake see me weak. I had to get out of here fast.

I needed to find out who was responsible for this.

And I'll make that person pay, even if it's the last thing I do on earth.

I clenched my teeth, willing myself not to shed a tear.

But my legs weren't so determined.

They failed to cooperate in the end, and my knees gave.

I sank to the floor, and the tears came along.

I was hurt, broken, wounded in places so hard to recover from.

Whoever did this, I would make them pay a thousandfold.

After a while, I started to crawl forward, ignoring those who passed by and their mixed reactions.

But my head had become woozy. I couldn't take it anymore and finally embraced darkness.

Drake's POV

...

My father tricked me into returning from abroad, thinking he was on his deathbed, but he was actually hale and hearty when I arrived.

He wanted me to take over the family company, stating the fact that I was his only son.

However, I already had mine, 'ThrAx Tech'. I started from scratch, and now my company is one that many companies would kill to collaborate with.

I was then forced to attend the birthday function of Madam Wilson, the matriarch of the top-ranking Wilson family, in my dad's place. My mother said the granddaughter of Madam Wilson, Amberlyn, would certainly catch my eye.

But I didn't want anything to do with women now, especially if they weren't her... Yaria Elwood. Another reason I came back was to find her and perhaps, make things right. I hoped... if she was still single, I could pursue her properly.

I knew back in high school, I was a terrible person to her.

I was spoilt, arrogant, stupid and took things for granted. I bullied her the most out of all the students in Theodore High back then because I didn't want to fall in love with her.

Yes, I liked her at that time, but the stupid me didn't want to admit it.

And I had a circle of friends and followers who looked up to me. I was the heartthrob of school, with girls dying to be my girlfriend.

She was the only one who didn't act like a lovesick puppy towards me, and I guess that's what made me notice her. I admit what I did to her was wrong. I said things I didn't mean, horrible things I shouldn't have said.

When her parents got involved in a near-fatal accident that had them placed on oxygen, I would often check on her at the hospital, but I didn't let her see me.

I didn't want her to think I had gone soft.

And then, I heard the sad news of their deaths. On the day of their funeral, I was there, amongst the crowd.

My heart ached to see her cry. Just when I'd decided to go forward and comfort her, someone pulled me away at the time.

It was my family's butler, Gordon. He said something terrible happened back home.

The butler was strong, I couldn't resist him from shoving me into the car and taking me away.

Turns out everything was fine, but my parents told me they wanted to send me abroad to continue my studies there.

I protested, but the next morning, I found myself on a private plane, headed for V country. My parents forbade me from coming back home until I was done with my studies.

But even after I had graduated from a prestigious university, I never came home.

Instead, I decided to start up a business. My parents didn't support me; they did everything to try to stop me, wanting me to come back home and take hold of the reins of the family business, but I was adamant.

I came this time because I was convinced my father was truly going to die. But it turns out to be a false alarm again.

I was unhappy to attend the birthday function; I even avoided Amberlynn, lying to her that I was only interested in men. I wanted nothing to do with a hypocrite like her.

And then, I saw her... My Yaria.

She had also attended this party. It made me thankful to be there.

I was also happy inside that the goddess had made her my fated mate.

Her asking me eventually to reject the bond, although somewhat expected, still broke me. But then, I decided to fulfil her wish, but still try to pursue her.

I just didn't expect that after the pain of the rejection dulled, I started to shiver from increasing cold.

When she had left the event's garden, I crumbled to my knees, wondering what was happening.

I struggled to call my friend who also attended the event. Thanks to him, I was able to reach the hospital on time.

The chills went away after two days, but it got me wondering why this strange cold attacked me in the first place.

I decided to go meet with the CEO of Coltex. He'd always wanted to partner with my own company, and I was happy to give him the chance.

I just didn't expect to find Yaria in the same building and more shockingly, the scent of the mate bond was intensely wafting from her.

My head reeled as she made her way towards me. I summoned some courage to try to talk to her, but she directly ignored me.

And even after she was done with CEO Johnson, she still wouldn't let me talk to her. She made it clear that she viewed me as a plague.

I felt terrible and couldn't sleep tonight. My wolf, James, was wailing within me, scolding me for hurting our mate in the past. If not for my stupidity, Yaria would have been in my arms now.

I hated myself. I knew I didn't deserve her, but I regained hope. The fact that we're once again mates made me think, perhaps the goddess didn't make a mistake. She must have seen potential in us being together.

I wouldn't waste this chance again.

When my friend called to apprise me that his mother had been admitted to the hospital, I decided to make my way there. His mother had been really nice to me from a young age.

But en route, I encountered my mate.

I knew she didn't like me. We were still a work in little progress.

But her hatred for me tonight made me stunned and puzzled.

I felt there was more to her hatred. And why was she so convinced that my family had something to do with whatever happened to her tonight?

Also, what exactly happened to her?

I watched her leave furiously. I stood there, rooted in my spot. My mouth was open, but unable to let out a word.

Eventually, I decided to head in the direction that she had gone.

And that was when I saw her on all fours, struggling to crawl forward. Just as I'd picked up my pace, almost getting close to her, she suddenly passed out.

Without a moment's thought, I rushed to her and scooped her into my arms quickly.

My heart was beating frenziedly as I dashed forward, yelling for medical personnel to come to her aid.