Chapter 05

ARIANA'S POV 

I felt as though I was dreaming. 

Everything was surreal and I could not make sense of the past or the present.

All I recalled was hearing Barbara and Rob's voices shouting my name as I ran down the streets angry and hurt and suddenly, I was floating and the whole world was blurry. 

What has gone wrong? Where was I? Was I stuck in a bad dream? 

It had been a few weeks to their wedding and the two families; the Stones and the Vanderbilts were both in a frenzy. 

The marriage was a form of amalgamation. It would make the two families partners and increase their wealth. 

The Vanderbilts, my  family, were the second richest company in Chicago. 

The Stones were the richest family in Chicago and Rob Stone had made his family so. I was chosen to be the one he would wed because of my knowledge about the business world.

Then, Rob had been a tall, young man, 6 '5, handsome, and one of Chicago's most elite bachelors. 

Apart from that, he had a head for business and was fast advancing his family's company. When I first laid eyes on him, I fell in love with him. I knew I had a reputation in the business grapevine as a ruthless and cold corporate raider and people even gossiped that being in the same room as me, could make the room get a few degrees colder.

All of these did not matter to me. All I had wanted then was to advance my family's company. 

My father always said I was worth more than two sons and so, it was me who came up with the plan to make our two families connected by marriage in order to advance our business.

Now, I knew I was lying down somewhere but I could not feel my body. I felt as though I was floating in space unable to find my body. 

Something was definitely wrong. What was it? 

I could not figure it out. It felt like that time when I had discovered Rob was in love with my sister Flora. 

I had known and I had been determined to stop it.

Something was wrong. I started to hear Rob's voice in my dream. He was saying something. What was he saying?…

“We'll figure it out, we'll figure it out,” Rob muttered continuously in his sleep until he woke up. 

The minute he opened his eyes, he found himself staring into my eyes. 

I fixed my gaze on him so he could feel it mentally boring a hole into the back of his head. I wanted to destroy him at that moment.

He cleared his throat.

“How are you?” He asked. “Well…I mean…”

I continued to stare at him until the silence in the room became unnerving. He noticed the tears slipping from my eyes, running a trail down my cheeks. 

“Please talk to me, Ari,” he begged.

“Why do I feel empty Rob?” I asked him suddenly.

For a moment, Rob was confused and at a loss for what to say.

“Rob, I lost the baby didn't I?” I began to sob until I was wailing. 

That was what was wrong. 

I survived. My baby died. 

I had been in an accident and I- I had lost my baby. 

He left me, just like Flora. 

Why is death always around me? How many people see their close ones die in front of them?

Why was the world so cruel? Did I deserve this? 

“I lost my baby, didn't I?” 

Rob stood up and came to stand by my side attempting to comfort me, “I'm sorry”.

“Your sorry doesn't mean a thing. I no longer have what to live for,” I said coldly and looked out of the window.

Why was I the one who survived? A woman no one needs?

I just wanted to fly away. Far from life’s existence…

“Hello,” a gentle shove interrupted my sleep. 

It felt like someone was dragging me from a dark tunnel into the blinding sunlight. 

I began to whimper and toss on the bed, not wanting to wake up. 

I wanted, no, needed to remain in the dark. 

The sunlight was cruel. The sunlight was a world without my baby and I did not want that.

“Ms. Stone,” the voice said, even more closely.

Suddenly, I felt something soft and warm on my forehead. 

I closed my eyes and opened it again and there he was smiling down at me.

“You're finally awake,” He said with a smile that almost knocked the breath out of me. “I'll be in charge of you. You can call me Dr. Josh.”