Love In the Shadows - A Twisted Fate

Prologue

My eyelids feel so heavy, and I am unable to open my eyes. I try to move my hand, but they are tied. For a minute, I wonder if this is a nightmare or reality. I can hear two people talking, and one man and the other is a woman. The last time I can remember is having dinner with my husband at the Starlit Hotel. As my sense of smell returns, I can smell gasoline around and a faint smell of flowers, especially roses that I had planted in my garden.

"Crap, she did not die." I could hear the faint voice of the man in agony. WAIT! Why does the voice feel so familiar?

"She is allergic to peanuts, but she is breathing." The woman groaned in agony. This is also a familiar voice.

"Are you not done yet?" Now I am able to hear things better than before, and this voice is so familiar that it is hard not to remember. It is my husband's voice, Kian.

"Akira, just give up, girl, nobody can save you from us!" After saying this, the woman laughs. This is my best friend, Naira.

I secretly pray to god, let this be a nightmare, and I would like to wake up from that. Suddenly, someone pours water over me, but why is it so thick? OH MY GOD, this is Gasoline.

I opened my eyes, but sadly, everything was true.

Kian and Naira laughed at me.

"This fool is finally awake. Now it will be fun to kill her." Naira looks at me ferociously.

I am living my worst nightmare.

"Why? "Why are you doing this to me?" I ask in a shivering voice.

" Don't you understand? Kian and I have always been in love. Kian married you only for money and power. Now that we have got everything from you, we don't need you anymore."

Wow, my whole life has been a joke. I thought Kian loved me, but it was all for money.

"You will pay for this. "My father won't let you off so easily," I yelled at them.

"We are sending you to your father soon," Kian replies coldly.

I regret that minute my wrong choice had brought me here. Our housekeeper always warned me. That he is not a good man. However, I did not listen to her and even fired her.

I wish I had never met him before. I cannot escape, as my legs are injured and tied.

"Did you ever love me, Kian?"

"Never, I have always loved Naira. " Kian said, without any remorse.

I felt sad, angry, frustrated and regretted and wished I could go back a year before I got married to Kian.

Within seconds, they made me sign a few documents. Now we are done with you completely and laugh out loud.

Kian hits my head hard and kicks the chair where I am sitting. He and Naira hold hands and walk far away towards the door of this strange store room and set it ablaze. I struggle to untie my hands, but in vain. I screamed for help, and suddenly Zev came to my rescue. But it is too late. The fire is so strong, and it is impossible for us to escape. I close my eyes and accept my fate.

" Miss, wake up". She is having a high fever. It sounds like our housekeeper. But I had fired her. How come she is here now?

" Doctor, she is running a high fever, and she is unconscious." I hear a woman's worried voice.

Did someone save me from the fire? How is it possible that it was a very remote place and no one could have ever known that I was in danger?

I open my eyes to see what is happening. I see my father and mother. Am I in heaven that I am seeing them?

" Akira, how are you feeling now?" My mother's concerned voice melts my heart. I haven't heard her voice for ages.

"I am fine, Mom," I replied with a smile.

"Kian was so worried about you that he immediately called us to fly back from the US," my dad said.

Something does not feel right. This was ages ago. I remember having a fever, and Kian stayed by my side to impress my parents.

Dad, it's all an act. How can I explain that to you? I asked my mom, which year is this?

" Silly, you got a fever and you forgot the year? It is 2015," my mom says calmly.

I am shocked and surprised at the same time. I sit up on my bed and check my phone; it is indeed 2015. Wow, God has given me a second chance. This time, Kian will pay for everything. I will not let him bully me and my parents this time.

Copyright © 2025 by Gayatri Harish. All rights reserved.

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This book is a work of fiction/nonfiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.