Liana's POV A small groan slid past my lips as I roused to consciousness. My body felt heavy, and I didn't miss the sore feeling in between my legs. That wasn't the worst part though. The fact that I remembered everything that had caused it had my cheeks burning bright. Memories flooded my mind, and if I was being honest, I definitely didn't mind reliving that moment again.If I could go back in time just to experience that moment, I would definitely take it. Over and over again. I still had my eyes closed, but it didn't shake off the feeling of being watched, so I slowly peeled my eyes open, just to come face to face with the last person I expected to see. “Kieran?” I muttered underneath my breath, and I didn't need a mirror to tell that my cheeks were definitely redder than before. It was strange seeing him so relaxed with his gaze on me, why? In the last couple of days, I'd forced myself to get used to waking up without him. He'd made it a habit of disappearing without a wor
Liana's POV No matter how hard I tried, nothing seemed to shake off the eerie feeling that seemed to trail after me. Goosebumps littered the surface of my skin and even after rubbing it down, it didn't disappear. My feet were cold, and I felt moisture seeping into my shoes. I wasn't sure I'd ever felt like this, and even though I didn't exactly know what it meant, I hated it. The feeling of me being watched seemed to die down a bit when we walked into the reception. Whether it had anything to do with the homey vibe of the place, or the fact that it was filled with people, I wasn't sure. Whatever it was though, I was glad the idea of me being followed had snaked to the back of my mind. “Hello.” The receptionist, a young petite lady greeted Kieran and I with a smile. “Welcome to Hotel Bay paradise. How may I help you today?” “We would like to check in please.” Kieran let out slowly. “I already have a reservation booked under the name; Liana.”“You booked our reservation under m
Liana's POV A good thirty minutes had passed, and Kieran had still refused to drop the book. Instead, he flipped through the pages with so much dexterity that there was no way I could come to any other conclusion except one. He was reading the book, and taking his time too. I fought back a groan as I scrubbed at my face with my hands. The sleepiness that had had a chokehold on me when I'd first woken up was nowhere to be found anymore. How could it, when all I wanted was to be able to pry that book from his grip. I wanted to do it so bad, but I knew it was next to impossible, unless if Kieran let me win, and there was only one way he would be able to do that. Call me crazy or whatever, but as he flipped through the pages I'd already read myself, I couldn't help but picture me and Kieran in those positions written out. I would be lying to myself if I said it wasn't fun when I'd been reading earlier. And to top it all off, I had mentally checked and made a list of positions I
Liana's POV I blinked back a couple of times, but it did nothing to rid the sight in front of me. I stood wide eyed, with a wave of fear and anxiety creeping up my chest. The ugly emotion curled itself around my chest, its sharp tendrils digging into my vital organs. It was a miracle how I was still standing, because I felt numb all over, and even the world seemed to swirl from time to time. It might not make a lot of sense, but if I were to be given a choice, I would much rather prefer to faint, than have to face the lady in front of me. Her face held no trace of being friendly, and I wondered how someone could hold such a smug look for so long. Her hands were folded across her bosom, and with one of her eyebrows raised, she looked nothing short of a villain from one of the princess movies I used to watch when I was a little girl. I snuck a glance at her. She hadn't changed, not even a bit. I wasn't close with Samantha's friends, but it didn't mean I didn't see them around. I
Liana's POV If someone had told me this was how my night was going to end, then best believe I would have laughed hysterically in their face and told them to go jump in the river or something if they were that bored. My life had been turning out great, and by my life, I really meant the past couple of days with Kieran in the hotel, and never in a million years did I think that anything would go horribly wrong. Over the past couple of weeks and probably months, I'd forced myself to push back memories of my previous life. They obviously didn't care about me, so why was I supposed to keep them anywhere near my mind? I'd always told myself that they were going to regret loosing me, it was what kept me going, but apparently, all I needed to break that thought and every sense of being attached to it, was Samantha's friend showing up. I hadn't expected it, and best believe I wasn't going to be forgetting it anytime soon. My plan for tonight had been to come back to the hotel room, get
Liana's POV My heart thundered madly in my chest, so hard I thought the vital organ was going to burst through the chest and onto the pavement. It sounded gruesome, but in a way, maybe it wasn't going to be all that bad. At least, that way these men would scurry away and leave me alone. I hoped. I had no idea who they were, I could swear that I hadn't seen them before in my entire life, and honestly, I'd wished it remained like that. If the looks on their faces meant anything, it was the fact that they were thirsty for trouble, and it didn't even help that they recognized me too. Why would they? I was new in the area, hell I'd only accompanied Kieran on this visit and I had no idea where the fuck we were, so how could someone recognize me, and from a picture on their phone too?Shit, this was messed up. I fidgeted, while slowly waiting to see what the men were going to do next. Apparently, they had just recognized me and weren't doing anything yet. Maybe, just maybe, I could
Liana's POV Time seemed to slow to a halt as I took in the man in front of me. I stared at him, unable to move, unable to breathe. Perhaps it had to do with the shock of actually seeing someone come to my rescue.Up until a couple of minutes ago, I had totally resigned to my fate. That I was going to die behind a buried wall, and I would most likely never be found. Maybe my body would eventually crumble with the building, or perhaps I would have decayed by the time I was found. Its not like anyone would miss me though. My family had ostracized me, and if news of my death did reach their eyes, I could bet my life that would be more ecstatic than sad. The only people who might be affected, would be Serena and Kieran. The same Kieran who was standing in front of me, I'm flesh and blood too. I wanted to reach out to him, to touch his face and feel his stubble, just to confirm I wasn't hallucinating , but I couldn't, even if I tried. “Liana!” Kieran's panicked voice hit my ears imm
Chapter 46 Liana's POV I leaned against the glass balcony of our room, the warm breeze brushing over my skin. I took in the scene in front of me, and I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said I wanted to stay here forever. I had the picture perfect view of the beach crashing down on the rocks that lined the sea. The greenery was breathtaking, and the variety of flowers that adorned the place was literally the cherry on top if you asked me. The wind tousled my hair here and there, and if I wanted, all I needed to do was change out of my robe and into a picture worthy dress, and take the most magical pictures in the universe. I had barely taken in the scene to my heart's content when a thought crossed my mind. The moment it hit me, a small frown made its way to my lips. Today was our last day here.Something tugged at my chest, and I easily recognized it as a mix of bittersweet emotions. We'd had fun here, despite the many things that went wrong, and even though I knew it was only r
Liana's POV The silence in the room did nothing to help. If anything, all it did was increase the already brewing tension in the air, and if nothing was done to stop it, then it wouldn't exactly be a pretty scene when things brew out of proportion. I wanted to speak, to at least say something and cut through the tension in the air, but what was I going to say? No matter what I did or how I tried, I wasn't sure anything was going to stop the calamity from happening. I wasn't an overly pessimistic person, but it was already set in stone, and nothing, absolutely nothing could change that. I forced my attention back to the screen in front of me. In the last couple of minutes, it hadn't moved nor shook. Maybe if the CCTV footage was still playing, we could have easily gone with the fact that maybe we hadn't watched it properly and we were mistaking the thief for Irene But that wasn't the case. It really was Irene in the frozen frame, and a shiver ran down my spine. I snuck a glance
Liana's POV I should have known today would end badly when I woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning. People always said you would get cranky if you woke up on the wrong side of bed, but mine was slightly different. Whenever I woke up wrongly, it was an automatic indication that my day was going to end up badly. It usually started from the moment I opened my eyes, up until the break of dawn, but when today started out fairly well, I jomestly thought my bad luck streak had ended, but I was wrong. Very very wrong. The goddess was only keeping the best for last, or in this case,the worst for last. I didn't want to believe what had just happened, I couldn't believe it. No matter how many times the guards words echoed in my ears, it still didn't make any sense. We found the crystal, sir. He'd said. We found it in between some of her belongings. What? There was no way that was possible. I had left my room in the morning, I had arranged everything and I didn't for once see the
Kieran's POV They said years of experience usually prepped you for any mishap that would come your way, but believe me when I said nothing, even in a million years could have prepared me for what had just happened. I couldn't believe it, I didn't want to believe it because there was just no way it was possible, at least, that was what my mind kept on whispering to me. But as I stared at the guard, and also took in the shocked expression on the rest of my guests, something in me couldn't help but snap. This was really happening. The lunar crystal was really missing. I blinked back a couple of times. Maybe if I did that well enough, this entire scenario would morph into something different, something where the event was going well and my guard hadn't just announced to everyone that the crystal was missing.But noatrer how hard I hoped, and the time that slipped by, nothing changed, and no one moved. This was actually real. Shit. “Are you sure?” I turned to the guard again. H
Liana's POV Some days in the palace were uneventful, and by that, I meant there were little to no chores for the maids to do. If I was being honest, those were the kinds of days I looked up to. If I had my way, that would be the only kind of days I got to experience in the palace. Ever since my little demotion from grace to grass, I could count a few uneventful days, and by few, I meant just one. Irene had made it a personal conviction to make my life miserable and a living hell too. I hated to admit it, but she was succeeding, and if that wasn't the worst thing to have ever happened to me, then I had no idea what else would suffice. Since today was nothing like the uneventful days, it was worse. I'd woken up earlier than I usually did, and it wasn't something I looked forward to. My task today was to make the palace clean and spotless in time for the Lunar council meeting. Apparently, it was held every year and in different packs too. I didn't know a lot about it, but I could
Kieran's POV My emotions were a mess, but for the life of me, I couldn't bring myself to dwell on them. In fact, I didn't even want to. Doing that would only make me more mad and probably heartbroken and that was the last thing I needed right now. A million and one thoughts ran through my mind, but a good number of them all revolved around Liana. No, scratch that. All of them revolved around Liana. Last night had passed by quicker than I would like, but best believe that I would relive that moment every minute of my life if I had too. Finally getting close to Liana was like a breath of fresh air, but nothing could top the little confession I'd give earlier today. I hadn't planned it. In fact, I'd done that in a state of panic, without giving a single thought to how she would react, or what the hell would follow after it. Had things gone differently than I'd expected? Yes. Did I regret it? Not at all. Liana was only going through a lot at the moment, and I told myself that
Liana's POV Even after convincing myself that I was going to have to grow a tough shell if I wanted to survive here, it still didn't make it any easier. Wrong. They didn't make it any easier. Their laughter reached my ears, and I would be lying if I said it didn't affect me. Every now and then they howled in pure joy, and I felt a piece of my heart break all the more. I knew I needed to leave their presence, but for some strange reason, I just couldn't bring myself to move. My feet felt like lead, and I felt my knees buckle beneath me. The air around me tightened, but none of this stopped the girls from gossiping. “Can you even imagine that?” Penelope chuckled loudly. “she has audacity, I'll give her that. What exactly was she thinking? That she could just walk in here and take over the palace?’ “She's a very dense girl.” Another maid laughed, and they giggled in agreement. “I thought she was smart, but apparently she's just so stupid. Did she really think her pussy would ma
Liana's POV My mornings had been following a particular routine in the last one week, and even though I wasn't particularly sure how I felt about it, I couldn't exactly bring myself to complain about it. It might sound degrading but I didn't exactly have a choice, at least a boring routine with a roof over your head was better than none, right? Even if the said roof came with one problem or the other. I didn't have a choice. I was going to have to deal with it, whether I liked it or not. My memory of last night had been in shambles when I'd woken up. All I knew was that Irene had embarrassed and insulted me in front of everyone. Like I didn't already have so much on my plate, I had to wake up to a naked man on my bed, and not just any man. Fucking Kieran. The moment I laid my eyes on him, memories of last night came rushing by. How he'd insisted on coming in, how I'd melted into his skin when he'd huffed me, how I hadn't pushed him back when he pressed his lips against mine, h
Kieran's POV I had no idea what had gotten into me, but best believe I didn't regret what I'd just done. One minute I had my arms around Liana, my hands going up and down her back, while my fingers drew small circles into her skin. When I was headed back to my room, I never in a million years thought that I was going to catch a glimpse of Liana running to her room, and in tears too. It had caught me off guard, and right there and then, I swore I was going to find out the reason behind her tears, or the person involved too. I knew pacifying her was going to be a hard task, but this, this was just a lot to comprehend. In all the time we'd spent together, I wasn't sure I'd seen her cry this much before. From her body movement, you could tell she was beyond hurt and my body itched to find out who it was that was responsible for her discomfort. If she had at least mentioned a name, then best believe that the unfortunate soul she'd call would definitely be six feet under by now. I ha
Liana's POV The air in the room was thick with tension, and I knew it would take a miracle to slice it clean without any casualties, especially now that Irene was involved. When I'd slapped Penelope, I didn't think Irene would show up. Hell, I didn't even know she was around the corner and neither did I think what I was about to do through. I was so mad that she had the guts to spread lies about me, and all because of what? Just so she and the other maids could keep on talking about me? Heaven knows I wanted to ignore her, but to what extent? How long was I going to keep on keeping quiet and what was that going to do to me In the long run? It was only going to break me down and I would belittle myself in front of everyone. I didn't want that, so I did what I had to do, and maybe, just maybe I might be regretting my decisions already. “Are you all deaf?” Irene shrieked, pulling me back to the present. I blinked back a couple of times, just to come face to face with a furious