“Didn’t you sleep at home?” Christie asked with a curious brow. Just like always she answered herself before Amelia could come up with an excuse. “Don’t tell me your mother punished you home late?”Amelia chuckled; she didn’t even know her mother, but she had told enough lies about her. “No. I was working on the inauguration party plans at home.” That was another lie, but it was better than the continuous lie about her mother. Chris stared at her with wide eyes. Amelia chuckled, “I can be a workaholic sometimes.”“I can deduct that.” She said. “Anyways, I created a group with the ladies and I wanted to ask if you would like to join the group.”“A group?” Amelia asked as if it was a foreign word to her.“A group chat on WhatsApp; I feel it will be a faster way to share information instead of waiting to meet every time. It doesn’t help that the party is tomorrow. We have to do everything as fast as we can do it while we are still working on our own duty.”Amelia nodded, “Of cour

“What was that all about?” Amelia asked. Her voice was small like a whisper. Her mind was replaying the event of the day. She had been happy that she wasn’t attached to the family and was free to live the way she liked, but everyone knows now. They were going to treat her differently now. “I have no idea why my parents did that. They had insisted we keep this a secret and yet they were the first to announce it to the world.” He clenched his teeth in anger. “They have always controlled my life. It wouldn’t have been bad for them to give me a head-up” He muttered under his breath, but she heard him clearly.After the announcement, the press went wild taking pictures. They had millions of questions to ask them, but she had been safely ushered out of the hall with the rest of the family. They had gone home while she had returned to the office to discuss things with Mike. She should have gone with them, but she needed to clarify this mistake with him.Mike had been nothing but a fr

The world moved faster as the car sped on the road. Amelia stared at the scenery from her window; this was the first time she was going on a long-distance journey, away from all she had known, and instead of fear she thought she would feel. She felt at peace and although it wasn’t for fun, she couldn’t help the excitement she felt. This was different from being cooped in her room. It was different from going to work and going back home. She felt free. If it wasn’t going to look strange, she would have loved to place her head out of the window and inhale the fresh air rushing at the car. The air called to her too and she wished she wasn’t sitting in the car but running with her hands spread out.On the other hand, Mike sat quietly beside her. He held the picture in his hand staring at it as if it was about to tell him something. He looked as if he could bewitch the picture and bring the people in it back to life. His hand moved slowly on it tracing the picture. His Uncle sat in

Amelia could hardly do anything; she couldn’t eat dinner, or talk with Loveth, and worst, she couldn’t sleep. She turned and tossed on her bed. What were the odds that her mother was friends with the Afonso? And who would have thought that she was going to find out about her mother in that way and manner? It made her thought about how some things that were meant to be, will be. It had been her favorite quote, ‘Que Sera Sera.’ “Awake.” Mike's voice was low beside her. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn’t thought he was going to be awake. “How do you feel?” She gulped. She wished she could dive into her feelings and tell Mike all about her mother. She wished she could tell him how surprised, happy, sad, and angry she was. Her senses were filled with different emotions, and she couldn’t pinpoint on one she was actually feeling at the moment. It was all surreal. But then, Mike had gone through his own share of surprises these days. He might be able to understand her

“I’m sorry.” Amelia’s voice was small. She was sandwiched between Claudia and Betty, while Nancy and Christie sat opposite them. She had just finished telling them about her life with her step-parents, and how they had treated her – killing off her social skills. She also told them about how she had suddenly been engaged to Mike, and gotten married without knowing anything about her husband. Then, she told them about the promise to keep the marriage secret from the public.She didn’t tell them that she was starting to fall for her husband. She didn’t tell them that her husband was her best friend. And, she didn’t tell them about Anne Devano. No one was supposed to know about Anne until they knew who was behind their attack twenty years ago, and if she was safe to come out of hiding. But, for now, she was still at the hospital recovering.Mostly, she could barely do anything yet, as her bones were still awake from sleeping for long. And she didn’t remember a lot of things about