Chapter 3- Anne recollects her past

It was nighttime already, and I was still chained to the poles. I had such excruciating pain in my wrist and arms, as they were severely bruised and injured. Blood had clotted at several places in my arm, and I was smelling horrible. I wished that Ben was around, and he healed me with his magic.

I remembered that he had healed me earlier on several occasions, as if by magic, but then I failed to recognise his supernatural powers at that time as he kept me hypnotized. There was something in his eyes—some magic—that made me forget the whole world, and I used to get immersed in them.

His very thoughts helped me get distracted from the pain, and I further got lost in his thoughts. I was regretting having been saved by Estella. It was better that I had died than to face this situation, I thought. I loved Ben from the core of my heart. How could I get him beheaded? But why was he not returning? Where did he vanish? He used to sense it always when I was in difficulty. But then what was it that prevented it from doing so this time?

I was a little upset with his lie, but that doesn’t mean I hated him. I still remember the day of the interview when I first met him. While I was lost in my thoughts, I overheard the guards discussing among themselves, “You know what? Joseph sir has deliberately given Anne Madam the cuts, and he is further planning to give her more injuries so that she keeps bleeding, and when the vampire arrives, he will be triggered by the blood and might end up killing her. Sir’s greatest opponent will thereby be removed from his path! What a plan he has thought of!”

I was filled with contempt for Joseph. I felt like piercing a dagger across his chest. But there was very little I could do, and I felt extremely helpless. I just wriggled and tried to pull my hands off the chains. But it was of no avail.

My thoughts drifted towards Ben again. The only thing that made me hate him was that he killed my best friend, Lily. Otherwise, I would have forgiven him for lying to me. He was speaking of his mom in the hospital, but he had never mentioned any of his relatives earlier. He told me that he was an orphan. I tried to recall how I came across him and how we fell in love with each other.

It was two years ago.

I was just getting breathless looking at my schedule for the day as my personal secretary, Lily, read it out to me. “Meetings after meetings the whole day—I can’t just manage it anymore, Lily. Could you please cut short on some of them if it is adjustable for the next day?” I exclaimed as the schedule seemed too unmanageable for a single day.

"I understand, Lily, that as the founder and CEO of my company, Franks Automobiles Pvt Ltd., which has cost me sweat and blood to be in the position in which it is today, companies from all over the world are desirous of getting a deal with that of mine. I am not supposed to make excuses, and I ought to be strong to handle the cumbersome task of maintaining its position. As I take pride in uttering these words, my mind and body are still not in a condition to handle the backbreaking work, and I crave a break.” I said it in a frustrating manner.

“All the meetings are equally important for the day, ma'am, or else we might miss out on some important deals, and our company might incur huge losses due to the same,” said Lily in a single breath.

“I just wish that our MD had not resigned and joined our opponent company. He was simply too efficient, and he used to handle a lot of work. A great part of the credit for making our company rise goes to him.” I said it with a grump.

“That is the reason that our opponent company just induced him to resign from our company and employed him by offering a higher salary than what he was getting over here.” said Lily

“Lily, let’s conduct an interview for the post of MD. The whole month was indeed too hectic for me without an MD. I thought that I would manage without an MD, and out of ego, I thought of managing everything myself, but now I realise that I was wrong.” I said this as I finally decided to conduct the interview the very next day.

“But how will we advertise everywhere in a single day, ma'am? It is not possible to conduct the interview tomorrow.’ Said Lily.

“You must manage it at any cost, Lily. I don’t want to listen to any excuses. Spend as much money as required, but the interview should be held tomorrow itself.” I said it in an adamant manner.

Lily just sighed and left the cabin, getting quite confused, but she didn’t say a word as she knew that I wouldn’t listen. I had been too impulsive throughout my life. But then, most of my decisions had never proved to be wrong, even when taken in an impulsive manner.

I struggled through my day through all my meetings, and then Lily came with a bunch of papers to be signed.

´Ma’am, I have managed to post the advertisements on the newspapers, internet, and even television channels. I just hope we get efficient candidates at the interview.” Lily said as I immersed myself in the bunch of papers, signing them as quickly as possible.

“Lily, I have all the money in this world, sufficient to buy the most expensive things in this world, but then I have no peace of mind, and I am missing out on the real happiness of life. I have nobody with whom I can share my feelings. My parents passed away when I was just too young.”

“I wish you find your life partner very soon, Ma'am," but for that, you will have to focus on finding one for you. You are just too professional to do that. Just for a day, forget that you are a successful business lady and try to act like a normal girl who is in search of her mate. I am sure you will get attracted to somebody and succeed in finding one out for you.” Lily tried to explain it to me, as she has seen me for the past seven years and has been my personal secretary ever since I established my company.

Lily was my childhood friend, apart from being my personal secretary. She had seen me through the highs and the lows and supported me in all difficult times. That is the reason that there was more friendly behaviour between us than between an employer and an employee.

I was just too young when my parents passed away, and then My only aunt, who brought me up, got a cardiac arrest a couple of years ago, and so I was left all alone in this world. I struggled through my days when I had to suffer a financial crunch after my parents' demise. My aunt, who was single, earned just enough for her living.

She somehow managed to get me educated at a good school and then a university. I got a scholarship at my school and at my graduation. I did my MBA by doing a part-time job so that I could pay my fees. These days of struggle taught me the importance of money in my life.

That is the reason that I started giving undue importance to earning money, success, and fame, but in the race that ensued, I just forgot about all the worldly pleasures, joy, and happiness. I became a hard-core workaholic and got submerged in the whirlpool.

“I will try to follow your advice, Lily. I hope I come across some dashing young guy in the interview tomorrow who can steal my heart.” Said I