ALIRA'S POV
“Hello sister...fancy seeing you here." I said with a smile on my face. "Alira?? You are here??” She asked with a surprised look on her face. "Yes Betsy….is there a problem??" “What are you doing here??? I mean…I didn't realize that both of you were still in touch." She said with a tight smile…the ones people only wear at funerals. “Oh, we weren't but sometimes, the past has a funny way of finding it's way back doesn't it???” The silence that followed was so loud that it could be heard from miles away. Liam suddenly walked in with the drinks in his hand as he paused, clearly surprised to see both sisters standing in the same room. “Oh Betsy, I didn't hear you come in." "Obviously.” She said as she rolled her eyes. " Liam, thank you for the drink.” I said as I took it from his hands with a smile as his eyes lingered on mine for quite some time. Betsy on the other hand was a fuming mess as she noticed what was happening. I took a sip of the drink and dropped the glass on the center table. I turned to Betsy as I walked closer to her. “It was really nice seeing you again sis...we should catch up sometime.” I said as she kept mute. I turned back to Liam. “Thank you for having me..it was great spending time with you and catching up on old memories…see you soon, Liam.” "Thank you for coming by Alira…it was fun having you here too." Liam said as I smirked. The first part of my plan was slowly kick starting and I was glad. I walked to the door, twisted the door knob and walked out. As soon as I got out and walked to the car, it felt like the air around me was suddenly tightening as I couldn't breathe. Memories of what happened in my past life came back flooding into my head as I remembered Betsy's words at the hospital. I was going to make them pay so dearly. I entered my car and drove off to my house as I clenched the steering wheel so hard. I was too naive in my previous life and that was why I was taken advantage of and killed off like some animal but not this time Alira. As soon as I got home, I saw an old rugged looking car parked outside my house and I suddenly remembered it was Alec's. He was a wretched fellow till I decided to sacrifice everything for him including my own happiness but I was glad that Alira was gone and a new one has been reborn. I came down from the car and walked in. “Hey wifey, I've been waiting here forever for you…where have you been??” Alec said as he was about to kiss my lips but I turned my face as the kiss only landed on my cheeks. "We aren't married yet and you are already keeping tabs on where I go??” I asked. “Oh no honey, it's not like that at all…I came earlier and I couldn't find you and that's why I asked.. don't be offended, my love.” He said. I rolled my eyes as I knew that it was the exact trick he used in getting to my head and heart in my previous life. “It's fine..what are you doing here??" I asked as I dropped my things on the couch. “Well I figured that this is our new home and so it's best to get familiar with it and also to spend more time with my soon to be wife." “Familiar with what, Alec?? I don't understand that statement of yours." I asked as I scoffed. "I want to get familiar with our home..with you.” Alec said with a nervous smile on his face. I was glad I could make him uneasy. "First of all Alec, this is my home and not ours...at least until I say I do so there are no familiarities here.” I said. "I didn't mean for it to sound that way Alira and also, what's with the attitude and strange behavior towards me?? Did I do something wrong??" He asked as he walked closer to me and held my waist pulling me closer to him. I was still angry and irritated even by his touch but he was starting to ask questions and it was too early for that and so I decided to push aside my anger and whatever emotions I was feeling to play my part of the game properly. “I am not.. I'm sorry…I just had a rough day.” I said as I forced a smile. “Really?? What happened?? Did something happen at work?” “No…I really don't want to talk about it Alec.” "That's fine Alira but just sit down while I prepare something delicious for us to eat okay??” "No, you don't have to.” "I want to and I insist.” Alec said as he kissed my cheek and went to the kitchen. I took the things I dropped on the couch and headed to my room to freshen up. As I stood under the shower, I made sure to scrub intensely every part of my body, especially the place where Alec kissed me. I didn't want to play any game…I just wanted to get that bastard for the pains he caused me. “That lying, cheating son of a bitch!!!" I screamed out. “Babe, are you done??" Alec suddenly asked from outside the door as he knocked. It was the audacity to walk into my room unannounced for me. I quickly stepped off the shower and wrapped myself up in my towel as I walked out. “I thought you were cooking Alec…you didn't have to come in here.” I said as I clutched my towel. “I am done…I just thought you check up on you.” "You didn't have to…you can leave now….when I am done getting dressed, I will meet up with you." “Why are you shy Alira?? You can undress in front of me…you know there is nothing inside that towel that I haven't actually seen before.” Alec said as he drew closer to me with a smirk on his face. Due to the level of the irritation I felt, I did something without thinking. I slapped him so hard.ALIRA'S POV “You are awake." A voice said as I snapped my head towards the door.“Liam??" “Were you expecting to see someone else??" He asked.“What am I…I mean how did I get here??" “You don't remember??" He asked.Usually whenever a guy asks a girl if she doesn't remember what had happened between them the previous day, it only meant that something had happened.I quickly checked inside the sheets I was using to cover myself and found out I was half naked.“Did we??" I asked as I scratched the back of my head awkwardly.“If you are trying to ask if we had sex, then the answer is no.. we didn't." Liam said as he handed me a cup.“What's this??" I asked as I sniffed the content of the cup."Drink it, it will help with your hangover and when you are done, get dressed and leave.” Liam said as he was about to walk away.“Liam, wait!!" “Do you need something??" He asked as he halted his movement and turned around.“What happened?? How did I end up here??" I asked.Liam gazed intensely
ALIRA'S POV“Your nightmare…I am your nightmare." I didn’t expect her to look shocked.Not because I barged into the house uninvited.Not because I caught her in bed with my dead father’s right-hand man...No.She was shocked because I interrupted her perfect little world.Her twisted fantasy where she played the grieving widow by day and shared bedsheets with the help by night.I stood there with my arms folded, glaring at the scene before me.The woman who raised me scrambled to cover herself with the blanket with her mouth parted like she wanted to defend herself. Mr. Grayson looked equally horrified, reaching for his pants like some teenage boy caught red-handed.“Why the hell are you in my house unannounced?!!” she snapped and asked for the second time like a broken record.“You make it sound like I walked into a government meeting instead of a sleazy soap opera.” I said with my voice like ice. “Relax….I’m not here for you…or your obvious company.”“Then why are you here?” she
ALIRA'S POVAfter I got home from Trisha's house, I laid on my bed as I got deeper in thoughts.The more I dug into the past, the more it unraveled like a thread I was never meant to pull. Every piece of information I uncovered led to ten more questions, and somewhere deep down, I was starting to feel it…someone else knew. Someone had been watching, interfering, either to protect me… or manipulate me.I couldn’t keep wandering in the dark.I needed answers and I needed real ones.And if Liam wouldn’t tell me everything, maybe I could force the truth out by confronting him myself.I decided to go to his house.Just as I got from my bed and was dressing up, Iris came into my room.“Alira, You are back?? And you didn't even let me know." She said with a faint smile on her face.“I am deeply sorry Iris…I was just so tired…what's up??” "Nothing much…I went to visit that bastard in jail." “Wait what? you don't mean your ex do you??" “Yeahh….him...I went to tell him a piece of my mind.”
ALIRA'S POVThe pages of my diary were beginning to look like crime scene evidence...every line, every word leading me closer to the truth.I had read it a dozen times before, but today, something new caught my eye."Alec knows...but what scares me the most is his silence…I saw him today talking to my mother and the conversation looked serious but what could they be talking about???”I froze, my fingers tightening on the edge of the paper.Those lines from the page I read were confusing as hell because why would Alec go ahead to speak to my mother even when I rejected his advances.My heart thudded in my chest.I wasn’t sure what confused me more: Alec's lack of reaction or the eerie calm that followed alongside the scheme with my mother…People who explode are predictable… People who stay silent after heartbreak? They’re dangerous.If he had an outburst with me, it would have been a lot better but the fact that he just smiled and accepted it while scheming behind my back made the stor
ALIRA'S POV I sat cross-legged on my bed as my diary spread open in front of me like a portal to another life and like one I barely remembered.The pages smelled faintly of lavender and dust, and each word I read felt like pulling a thread from a sweater I had once worn but forgot.I had already combed through over half of the entries, most of them chaotic and emotional, some full of love and others brimming with fear. But I wasn't giving up..at least not now, not when everything was starting to make sense in the most horrifying way possible.My fingers trembled as I flipped another page. A paragraph was scrawled in hurried writing."I think Alec knows about Liam and me…He hasn't said anything yet, but the way he looked at me yesterday... it was different….Like I had betrayed him and like he wanted to hurt me…I can't stay here anymore…. I need to leave before it's too late."I felt the air suddenly leave my lungs."Oh my God..."My heart pounded as I kept reading."Today I finally
BETSY'S POVAfter the whole Liam announcing our wedding plans and Alira doing the same too, I started feeling extremely uneasy.I stared at my phone for a long minute, fingers clenched so tightly around it that my knuckles turned white.Something wasn't right. Something about the way Liam had looked at Alira during that meeting like she still owned a part of him.No…. I wasn’t imagining it and I’d be damned if I let my perfect plans crumble because of some lingering ghost of a romance.I hit Alec’s contact and pressed the phone to my ear. He picked up after two rings."Betsy? What is it?""We need to talk," I said sharply. "I think something is going on between Liam and Alira." I said.There was a pause and then Alec chuckled. "You're being paranoid.""Am I? I definitely saw the way Liam looked at her during the meeting…. He's not over her….I can feel it.""Well, let me ease your mind then," Alec said, his voice laced with arrogance. "Alira and I slept together…we had sex!!! And