Chapter 1

"Y-you’re not thinking clearly, James!” She shouts, eyes wide, sweat pooling above her brows. “Please… please don't do this to me!”

James’ face is void of any emotion. Nothing like the man she had spent three years of her life with.

Nothing like the man who had fallen on his knees three months ago, and proposed with a huge smile on his face and a promise of forever.

“I can't do this anymore, Belle.” James sighs, resigned. “I can't.. I can't keep pretending like this.”

Bella is frantic. Anyone would be if they were currently being pushed toward the edge of a ten story building.

“I'm sure we can work something out… we can…I'll talk to my dad about it.” She swallows heavily, wiping her tears with the back of her palm.

“We'll call off the engagement. We'll go our separate ways! We don't need to see each other anymore.” Her voice softens. “Just please…”

Their eyes meet and she tries again,

“Think of us. Of our memories. Of everything we've been through…” Belle hoped to kill time enough for the police to find her.

“Don't let your emotions blind you now..” she adds softly, praying that James would regain his senses.

As the words leave her mouth, the air around them goes still. James pauses, brows furrowing like he is reconsidering.

But just then, the door to the rooftop slams open, and just when Belle sighed in relief in thought that the police had found her, she sees her best friend instead.

Anna.

Anna, the same scholarship kid that she'd defended from bullies. The friend she held onto through high school and college, never once allowing the gap in their family's status to come between them.

The girl that had betrayed her.

She still remembers it like it was yesterday;

One week ago, during James' birthday, she'd gone over to his condo to surprise him. They had been happy, atleast she thought they were, only to walk in and catch them.

Anna in bed with James.

She had stood frozen, tears trickling down her eyes as she watched a scene she could never unsee; She stared at Anne, back arched, while James was moaning and thrusting into her with so much ferocity.

"Ah, fuck, James....Belle can't make your feel this good can she?" Anna moaned loudly, none of them realizing that Belle was standing there.

How long had this been going on?

How long had they been betraying her?

This was the man she was supposed to marry next month. The man she had shared a bed with several times, eaten breakfast, cuddled on the couch while they talked about forever.

Her legs began to shake, her chest squeezing so hard it felt like she was being choked.

She couldn't bear it, the sight of him pressing into another woman's spine while he fucked into her from behind, panting against her skin like a ragged animal.

He was never even like that when he was with her.

The tears burst out of her, body shaking even as the sound of the betrayal; the sound of skin slapping against skin echoed through the apartment.

The flowers, cakes and gift bags slipped down her fingers, hitting the floor with a loud clatter, and that was when they realized.

She'd expected them to beg, to be remorseful, but they didn't even flinch.

Anna was smiling, James looked guilty only for a second before he turned away, letting Anna wrap her hand around him.

And now they were here, the memory still fresh in her mind.

Yet, she still couldn't believe it.

Couldn't believe that Anna slept with her fiance.

Planted lies about her in her father's company.

Stole from her.

And is now orchestrating her death.

Yes, James' betrayal stung… but Anna's?

How could she ever recover?

Anna is silent, taking in the scene; James hesitating, Belle's arms clasped tightly as she begged.

She looked angry!

“What are you doing listening to her?!” She bellowed at James. “Are you stupid? The police could be here any moment!”

Anna's voice seems to pull him out of his trance and he straightens, the guilt on his face vanishing into something cold.

He turns to Anna, eyes softening. Something he's never even given Belle…

“I'll do it.” He says with harsh resolve, inching forward again, step by step. “if this is what you want, then I'll do it…”

Anna rolls her eyes. “Then do it and stop wasting time our time!”

Belle is shocked to say the least. They have been together for three years and she had to beg for him to the bare minimum.

Never had he even looked at her like this…

But now the woman that treats him like shit… he is willing to kill for?

The look of betrayal is etched onto her face. She looks at her ex-best friend again, eyes wide in disbelief, then back at James who's charging towards her now.

Her thoughts are racing…this is definitely the end for her..

The people she loved the most were the same ones who turned around and stabbed her in the back…

And there is nothing she can say to save herself anymore as James lurches at her

THUD.

Her legs slip off the edge, her small toe grazing against the harsh concrete as she begins to descend.

Tears welled in her eyes as the wind wrapped around her harshly.

Belle could still see them through the tears,

James standing stiffly at the edge, looking down at his hands, Anna beside him, a slow, satisfied smile on her face.

Belle's chest tightened painfully.

There is no way she is going to survive this.

This was the end.

This was her end…

While the best friend that betrayed her, and the fiance that left her, get to live a happy life.

And in the midst of her tears, her pain, the betrayal, she closes her eyes tight and makes a wish….

SPLASH!

Everywhere is wet. Her body soaked to the core, her lungs burning.

Her eyes fly open.

She jerks up, gasping for breath, clutching the edge of the marble bath with shaking hands.

And as the water slowly left her lungs, her heart began to pound so violently thar she almost tumbles back into the water.

She is .. she is alive?!

How?

She couldn't believe it! She touched her face, arms desperately…no scratch.

Nothing that could hint at a fall from that height.

Was she… was it all just a bad dream then?

But no it couldn't be. She remembers too vividly catching James and Anne together in her home. In her bed.

She remembers the days of anger at them.

She remembers the call, James asking for them to resolve things amicably. The three of them.

She remembers it spiralling, the argument… the way she was tricked to the rooftop.

The fall…

So how?

Just then, Belle hears voices from outside the door. And for the first time since realizing she was alive, she lets her eyes drift around the room.

She is… she is in a weird looking bath of some sort. It was marble, but bigger than the average bathtub. Much bigger, like something from historical movies.

The room is decorated with paintings, candles, and wooden stools of scented oils. .

She finds it strange that she hasn't seen anything like them before, and she should know because she was a beautician working in her father's Cosmetic business before all this mess.

Set to take over her father's business in a few years.

Her chest squeezes, her father…

They had lost her mother and elder sister ten years ago in a car crash, and somehow they had made it work with just the both of them.

How is he going to survive losing her too? There was only so much one's heart could take.

But is she really dead?

Where the hell is she..?

The voices outside however, grew louder and louder. Like a man angry about something. Some muffled yelling, and scared apologies.

Who the fuck…

Then as the shuffling of feet grew closer, she began to smell it…Musk, coffee and a tinge of something animalistic.. very strong, it pulled her.

The smell isn't bad, it's pleasant in fact. Alluring, something distinctly male. The kind of smell described in the books she read during her free time.

But there was still something about this place, the smell that unsettles her.

She looks around for a place to hide as she hears the voices right behind the huge wooden door now, heart thumping hard in her chest.

She really needs to leave before…

Her thoughts are cut off when the door is slammed open, and she is suddenly face to face with a young man.

An extremely attractive young man with the most piercing green eyes she's ever seen. His dark hair is shiny, falling over his face in waves, a Greek God in human form.

But..but he looks angry.

Their eyes locks, and his scowl deepens.

“Who are you?!”