Ellaya

"I plead guilty."

"Ms Stone, are you certain you do not want to say anything in your defence?"

"I, Ellaya Stone, accept responsibility for all of my crimes. I worked as Mr. Ruan's personal assistant for Ruan Corporation. I stole the company's proprietary information and sold it to the M&D group. I also accept responsibility for slow poisoning Mr. Alex Ruan, which caused him to become comatose.

Accepting all of the crimes with pride she met his deep-set eyes. A mocking smile came across her angelic face. The man seated across from her had a slowly darkening face.

"Life in prison sentenced for Ms. Ellaya Stone."

Wearing a smile, she held out her hand to be handcuffed and walked alongside two police officers.

Laaya …

A shout echoed throughout the room, and an extremely handsome man sat on his bed, still asleep. Sweat dripped down his spinal cord.He grasped his head, frustrated.

This dream, In the four years that had elapsed, there had not been a single night that he had not woken up from this dream. Though there was still pride in those eyes, a glint of melancholy peered directly into his soul. That smile seemed to mock him for winning the fight but losing the battle.

He stood up from the bed and lit a cigarette before walking straight to the balcony.

At the same time, in a dark alley, several men were lying on the ground in a pool of blood, shrieking in pain from eye-piercing injuries on their bodies. A cylinder silhouette leaning against the wall lit a cigarette, smoking elegantly with one hand and tapping arrhythmically on the wall with the other, while a man screamed for mercy beneath her feet.

Kicking the man she ambled. Halted her movement she looked back.

"Tell him I am back"

Like a chitta on his hunt, she gracefully left the scene.

Despite the calm and darkness of the night, it was still far brighter than the darkness in his heart. He was staring at the moon, but a picture of a stunning face kept flashing before his eyes. The cigarette burned some flesh and turned into ashes, failing to jolt the stunned man back to reality.

A cylinder and a beautiful arm gently held his waist from behind, bringing him out of his trance.

"You are awake." Her demeanor was as charming as her voice.

Turning back, he untangled her hands. "Why are you not sleeping?"

"I had a nightmare."

Without asking any more questions, he turned to head back to his room. She caught his waist from behind while jogging quickly .

"I saw her …I saw her in my dream …again …"

"She came back and stabbed me in the heart with a knife."

She hugged him tightly and sobbed softly.

"This is just a dream; I will keep you safe even if she returns."

"Iden, it has been four years, and you still have trouble falling asleep. I also awaken from the nightmare every night. Do you believe that what we did was wrong? Ellaya has gone but she is still between us." She asked him, or herself, as she spoke, not realizing it.

He said with a dark cloud rising over his face and his lashes quivering for a moment. "She only got what she deserved"

A hint of regret and melancholy returned to his voice, and a thick stillness hovered over the air.

Turning to leave the house, he grabbed the jacket.

She remained silent until she heard his car's engine start. She knew that in his heart, she was nothing compared to her, still she wanted to hold him back and force him to stay. His thoughts would not be with her, though, if he stayed. She desires his heart in addition to his body.

The car stopped in front of the gate of a modest but exquisite structure. The image kept flashing through his mind, the building covered in gorgeous trees and flowers. Gathering his courage, he exited his vehicle. It had been raining cats and dogs for a few days when he took a few steps and was flooded. Bending over, he felt beneath the doormat where the key had been left earlier, as if it was waiting for its owner to return. The "crack" released the gate. On a quiet night, it was pretty noisy. He could see nothing but darkness. There was a strong smell of dust and darkness in the room. Even after four years, he still lacked the courage to enter the house and take a closer look at it as he reached for a switch with his trembling hand to turn on the light. He turned to walk away, but his hand lingered in a gesture.

He was about to take two steps when he heard the humming coming from the kitchen.

"Laaya..."

He ran inside, screaming her name, but the kitchen was dark. When he turned on the light, the room remained empty. Did he mishear? No, he could not be mistaken; he had just heard her humming. She had a habit of humming a song while working when she was by herself.

One by one, he ran toward the stairs after leaving the kitchen. Since she had nowhere to flee or hide from him if she was in the small, old house, why did not he find her? The humming is audible from every angle, so it cannot be his imagination, can it?

A cylinder figure was leaning against the wall, humming a song, while he was rushing into every room to look for her. Her gaze lingered on the wall-sized picture of a man and a woman cuddling while wearing wedding gowns. It was fascinating to see the couple's smiles. It was their bedroom.

He stopped to make his move and turned to face his bedroom. He slowly extended his trembling hands to grasp the door's knob. With a "crack," the room door opened, and his feet remained planted there. He was unable to move and felt as heavy as iron. He called out in a deep, hoarse voice and could only utter a name.

"Ellaya"