Nora’s Pov. “Opulence lounge? Why did dad choose this particular place of all the places? Does he suspect anything?” my mind raced, a turbulent storm of fear and uncertainty, emerged within me. That was the exact lounge that Liam worked in – the same place we had met and fell in love. Some years back, my father had planted me in the Opulence Lounge as a waitress, just so I could get close to one of my preys. My prey back then was one powerful man- someone you couldn’t access easily. Opulence Lounge was where he frequented, and I had to work there for two months before I got close to him and silently took him down. During those two months, Liam was my colleague. Those fleeting moments I spent by his side while we worked together, I found the peace I had long. There was this charm about him that kept me glued to him and kept drawing me in. For the first time, I found myself breaking my father’s rule: never to fall in love. I promised myself to keep my relationship with Lia
Nora’s POV. “Nora, are you okay?” Liam, whom I had pushed to the floor asked, looking at me warily. I was unsettled – my hand rested on my heaving chest, trying to calm myself down. “Did you hear anything?” I asked Liam, wanting to confirm if I was mistaken, as I looked around the room, in search of that invincible man. “Heard what? What’s wrong with you? Why did you push me like that? You should have just told me you didn’t have interest instead of just pushing me like that. I almost hit my head on the floor!!” he lamented, rising to his feet angrily with a scowl on his face. “Did I hear wrong? I could swear I heard his voice. It was him – he said those words to me. Am I hallucinating right now?” I ruminated confusedly, my palm on my forehead, trying to decipher between reality and hallucination. “Are you just gonna sit there and not say anything? Don’t you deem it fit to say sorry for almost hurting me?” Liam scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest as he glared at me.
Nora’s POV. “Liam?” my breath hitched. “What ... are .... you doing here?” I stammered, shocked to see Liam standing right in front of me. He was supposed to be at home- sleeping. I saw him fall asleep before I left his apartment but what the hell was he doing there? “Nora ...... is that .. really you?” his voice, which was barely a whisper asked, his legs trembling. I knew I had fucked up and the fear of if I would ever escape from the mess I had created gripped me. I had been scared of him knowing who I really was my whole life – scared of him leaving me once he found out I was a ruthless murderer. His eyes were fixed on me – pleading for me to prove what he had seen wrong. I opened my mouth to explain to him, but words betrayed me as not even a sound escaped from my lips. “Liam, I can explain” I finally said, my hand stretched, taking some steps towards him but the reaction I got from him, broke my heart. “Don’t ...... don’t near me” his trembling voice warned, as he step
Nora’s POV. “Wow!! So, Nora can shed tears? I didn’t know stones have begun to have feelings. This is just wow!!” Lorenzo tormented with a sinister smile on his lips, his eyes flickering with amusement. He kept on rambling, but my mind was too occupied for my brain to accommodate whatever he was saying. I was devastated, sad and feeling lost. Watching Liam walk away from me made me realize something – the pain my victims’ families felt when they lost their loved ones. I felt my heart being ripped apart- as if a part of me had left me. I didn’t make a sound, I just stood fixated at the point, my eyes looking in the direction of where Liam had gone, with tears streaming down my eyes. Lorenzo’s laughter pierced through my grief – sharp, loud and mocking. “Don’t tell me the Ice Queen has melted for a man who didn’t even know who you really are?” he snorted. Wiping away my tears with the back of my palm, I slowly turned to face him, my face a mask of calculated coldness. Cold, da
Nora’s POV I drove straight to Liam’s apartment, my fingers trembling as I repeatedly dialed his line, hoping he would pick but he didn’t. Fear of what he might do to himself, how disdainful he would be feeling due to the truth he had learnt gripped me. “What if this changes everything between us? What if he decides not to see me again? What if this breaks him completely?” those what-ifs enveloped my mind as I drove, with fear of uncertainty gripping my heart and glistening in my eyes. Eventually I got to his apartment, but he was nowhere to be found. I knocked desperately on his door repeatedly, hoping he would come out to me, but he didn’t. I peeped into his living room through the front window, hoping I would catch a glimpse of him but everywhere was claimed by darkness. It was then it hit me – that he wasn’t at home. I would have gone in, but I wasn’t with my spare key. “Where could he have gone? Why is he not home? Is he in danger? Did he...... hurt himself?” I thought, t
Nora’s POV I stirred – and everything felt warm, too warm for me to be outside in the cold. I felt something warm under me; a blanket was nestled around my shoulders. I flung my eyes open, only to find myself in Liam’s bedroom – tucked in on his bed to be precise. It took me some minutes to figure out how I got to where I was. My head was banging, and my body was aching, but I managed to sit up, holding the bed frame for support. “Liam” his name came to my mind, as I wondered where he could be. I looked around the room hoping I would catch a glimpse of him, but I didn’t. “Has he left me again? Has he finally abandoned me now?” my mind raced and not minding how weak and tired I was, I rose to my feet, ready to go in search of him. I staggered towards the door and just as I was about to get a hold of the doorknob, the door flung open, revealing Liam, who was holding a mug of warm coffee. His eyes lit in surprise the moment he saw me. Carefully placing the mug he was holding in
Nora’s POV I spent that day at Liam’s place, taking my time to explain to him my journey from childhood to adulthood. I also made sure to switch off my phone so as to prevent my father's men from tracking me to Liam's abode. “You really passed through all this? You saw your mother die right in front of you? That must have been so hard on you” Liam, who was lying on the bed with my head rested on his chest whispered, his voice laced with sorrow and disbelief. “Yes, It .... really was. It was really hard on me that most of the times, I wanted to cry and make my sadness known, but I never had the chance to. My father saw tears, love and fear as weaknesses and I wasn't allowed to neither feel nor express any of those". "Living with my father as a child was ....... really terrifying that I had wished I died alongside my mother that night. I went to bed each night, praying that I shouldn't live to see the next day but God never listened to my prayers. Maybe because ..... I have so much
Nora's POV. Those days I spent at Liam's place were everything - they were heavenly and I felt they shouldn't end. I spent up to a week at Liam's place, taking the break I had longed been due for. I never had it at the back of my mind to go back home until Liam brought it up. "Babe, you have spent five days here without going home. Don't you think we are attracting danger to ourselves? What if your father finds out you are here? Won't he be furious?" Liam's concerned voice queried. "I don't care about him, he can do whatever he wants. I feel at peace here and this is what I need right now. I will go back home but it would be at my own convenient time. Or is it that you don't like the fact that I am here? Am I inconveniencing you?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowed. "You know that's not what I mean babe. Remember we have a plan right? For us to carry out our plan successfully, you have to keep on deceiving your father that you are his puppet he has always known. You changing
Nora’s POV. “What? Do you even know what you're saying?” I heard my father yell, rising to his feet and before I knew it, he landed a slap on my cheek. “Il Sangue Freddo, I am sorry. Please, forgive her childishness and spare her” my father pleaded, getting on his knees once again. “Get on your knees you brat and beg to be saved” he spat from where he had knelt, eyeing me disgustingly. I didn’t move, didn’t say a word. All I did was to stand by my word, waiting for the Almighty Il Sangue Freddo to do his worst. I was breathing heavily, as if I was getting ready to leash at my prey. “You have fire within you, and I love that. But I think you should be careful who you burn it with- because some people don’t burn to ashes, they explode” he roared and the next thing I saw, was his fingers wrapped around my neck tightly, choking me. His movement was swift. One second, he was seated in front of me and the next- his hand was wrapped tightly around my throat.He didn’t feel like
Nora’s POV. One day. Two days. Three- four days passed, and I still hadn't figured out my escape plan. I had just two nights left- two nights. The security around me was tight. It was as if my father knew I was up to something. The only breathing space I had was when I was inside my room. Anything outside that, I was always surrounded by my father's men- watching over me like I was a prisoner. I needed to get his men away from my sight, as that was the only way for me to escape. With them around, there was no chance for me. Vanessa and I communicated through chats, with her showing her concern about how time was flying, and I still hadn't come up with any plan. I was worried too- worried that I might be stuck in that house and end up marrying the monster my father feared. But I kept my fear under control, assuring her I would get in touch with her as soon as possible. I was ruminating in my room when I heard a knock on my door. I walked to the door and opened it for ‘
Nora’s POV. “What do you mean his corpse disappeared?” I asked, my heart beating heavily in my chest. “That day seven months ago after you left the hospital, one of the nurses reported Liam’s body missing. At first, I didn’t believe it until I confirmed it myself. There were no traces of forced entry into the morgue, the security footage was wiped off- nothing" she explained, her eyes widened. Gone? Liam’s body is gone? What the hell is going on? Who could have taken his body away? Could it be ....... “Are you sure it wasn’t my father?” I asked, as he was the only suspect I had in mind. Liam never had friends, talk more of having beef with anyone.“No, he isn’t the one” Vanessa confidently said. “Why? Why do you think he isn’t the culprit? What makes you so confident?” I asked, staring at her intently. “Because he is also in search of the body” she announced. “What are you talking about?” I asked, astonished. “The day after his body disappeared, your father and his men
Nora’s POV. I stepped back, shaking my head slowly. “No, Vanessa. That’s not possible. How can I be pregnant?” “I swear Nora, the result confirmed that you were. When you collapsed that day upon hearing about Liam’s demise, I ran some tests on you since you complained to me about having abdominal pains. And when the results of the tests came, it was confirmed that you were pregnant” I snorted, shaking my head. “I still can’t wrap my head around this. Okay, let’s agree I am pregnant like you said, so where is the baby? Where is the baby bump?” I asked in a low voice. “That’s exactly what I don’t understand too. Maybe you miscarried while you were locked up in that cell. Did you at any point in time bleed?” Vanessa asked, my hands held in hers. I slowly wrung my hands out of hers, pacing up and down the room, with my hand rested on my forehead. I thought about it- those days I spent in the dungeon, did I bleed? Then it hit me. Come to think of it, it had been months
Nora’s POV. “No....” my breath hitched, shaking my head. “I will marry anyone of your choice except for him”. “You will, darling” my father replied, his voice as sharp as a blade. “It’s not like he loves you, but his grandmother chose you and he had no other option than to agree”. “His grandmother chose me? Why would she do that? I haven't even met her before. So, why me?” I asked, perturbed. My father rose to his feet, walking round the cell. “Well, I have no idea. I am only acting upon her request” he replied nonchalantly. “You are just acting on her request? So, you are telling me to marry a man I do not love – someone I have not seen before? Can’t you just say no?” I asked, my calm voice now slowly turning into a volcano. “Love? You don’t have to love someone before you marry them. Sometimes, you don’t realize you love someone until you marry them and start to share the same bed with them. So, my dear daughter, you will grow to love him.” I stared at him in total disbe
Nora’s POV. I could hear it – those heavy footsteps of his. They were distinct and I could identify them among thousands of footsteps. “Why is he coming to see me now? Is it time for me to die now?” I thought, dragging my weak body up from the floor where I had lain. Each of his footsteps created a terror within me. It seemed like as each day passed in that dungeon I was locked in, my rebellion slowly diminished – replaced by the fear I once had for him. I saw his shadow slowly approaching, stretching across the hallway like a warning. The closer he neared, the more the memories I had tried so hard to bury rushed to me – the first time I held a gun, the day he made me kill my mother, the time he laughed while I cried and the day, he made me choose between love and my loyalty for him. I backed away reflexively, my hands trembling beside me. I hid myself in the corner of the room, my eyes turned away from the iron rods and fixed on the walls before me. I didn’t want to see h
Nora’s POV. My eyes flung open to find myself behind bars – the same bars my father always locked me in as a child whenever I got on his nerves. There was a basement in our house, where he built a cage that felt like an actual cell in the police station. It was mine and my mother’s torture room, where we were told to reflect on our mistakes wherever we offended him. I had always obeyed his orders, just so I wouldn’t end up in that room again, but there I was - not knowing for how long I would be there. I tried to move- to sit up, but I was too weak to do so. Painfully, I forced myself to sit up and rested my back on the wall. Even though I was trapped and was in pain, I was still worried about Liam. “What would happen to his body? Will Vanessa be able to give him a befitting burial on my behalf?” I was worried because I knew I wouldn’t be getting out of that prison anytime soon. I dragged myself to the iron bars, banging on it with the hope that the noise would attract any
Nora’s POV My eyes fluttered open to meet with a dim, sterile light. The smell of drugs and antiseptic filled my nostrils, making me slowly become aware of where I was. I was lying on the hospital bed, putting on the usual patient gown and I could feel the weight of the blanket tucked firmly around me. I looked beside me only to find a beeping monitor and IV line taped to my skin. I managed to get myself to sit up. I felt a slight headache as I tried remembering how I had gotten there. And then, that dreadful memory came. “Liam” I whispered, as my eyes widened in shock. My hands trembled, and I hurried to my feet, yanking the IV line taped to my skin. Barefooted, I rushed to the door, wanting to go in search of Liam. I flung the door open, only to reveal Vanessa who was standing in front of me. “Nora, where are you off to? When did you wake up?” she asked out of concern, her eyes fixed on me. I was less concerned about how worried she was, all I wanted to know was where he
Nora’s POV “Shot him? What the hell did you make me do?!!” I screamed, letting go of my hold on his shirt and pushing him out of my way. He staggered, but he was quick enough to steady his stand before he could fall. “Sir!” I heard his men shout, rushing to him like loyal dogs wagging their tails at their owners. Breathing heavily with tears streaming down my eyes, I rushed to where Liam’s lifeless body was. I knelt beside him, hurriedly tearing the polythene his face was covered with. As I did, I was praying silently – hoping it wasn’t Liam, hoping that I was being pranked. My hands shook as I ripped the plastic bag away from his face. There he was – pale, still, bloodied with pain etched on his face. My hands grabbed his cheeks, patting them with my trembling hands as I tried jolting him awake. A loud scream of pain which almost tore my lungs apart erupted from my mouth. “Liam! Liam, please wake up. Don’t do this to me. I beg of you” I cried, my tears dropping on