"Wait! Stop!" I cried out loudly.


    Hayden blinked at me in confusion before he smiled tightly at me and my sudden outburst. How could I have stayed silent? He had just told me that Amelia was engaged to Ethan.


    What on earth is going on?


    "You’re telling me that Amelia was engaged to Ethan before she got involved with your brother?" I asked in pure disbelief.


    Ethan and Amelia were engaged! What the hell is going on? For all the times that I spent living with Ethan, he never once mentioned that he was engaged. I mean, he was engaged to her since they were born. Does something like that still exist these days?


    "Precisely. Ethan didn’t want to marry her. They probably almost never met at all due tock of interest on both sides. Ethan ran off and shacked up in a small town. You should know the rest…because at that time…he was in a rtionship with a certain someone…" Hayden said before grinning meaningfully at me.


    Back then, Ethan was probably living in my town while this whole thing went down for Harvey, Amelia and Hayden. I had no clue what was happening back then. Ethan…what was he thinking at that time? If I asked him, would he tell me…?


    "What happened? Did she break off her engagement with Ethan?" I asked.


    All I knew was that somehow Amelia and Harvey managed to get engaged and were probably going to get married. However, that marriage clearly didn’t take ce…


    "Enough storytelling for today…" Hayden said as he got up from his seat.


    "Wait…Hayden…" I called for him.


    "We’re heading back," Hayden said curtly.


    The ride back to the penthouse wasrgely silent. It seemed like, like me, Hayden also had many things that he wanted to think about alone. He didn’t disturb my thoughts and I didn’t disturb his. When we arrived back at the penthouse, a grim-looking Luka was waiting there along with a few of his men. From the look on his face, I knew that he wasn’t here to deliver any good news.


    "Where did you take her, Hayden?" Luka asked without offering any greeting.


    "Why are you asking when you already know…" Hayden replied as he shrugged off his suit.


    I stood there watching the two men exchange words while I felt very out of ce. An argument with Luka would probably add more mess to my life and I didn’t need that right now. After everything that had taken ce today, I wanted to be alone so that I could do some quality thinking.


    "Umm…I’m just going to excuse myself…" I mumbled as I turned and began walking in the direction of my bedroom.


    To my surprise, Hayden didn’t say anything to stop me. With a heart full of relief, I was able to make it to my bedroom and shut myself up alone inside. I didn’t realize that I felt so drained of energy until I slid down onto the floor the moment that the door shut behind me. My legs felt weak as I just sat there, leaning my back and head back against my bedroom door.


    I sighed loudly as I closed my eyes.


    My temples throbbed and ached. It seemed like I was living an entirely different life than the one that I had been living as of this morning. Seeing Amelia in the state that she was in along with hearing those stories from Hayden changed many things for me. Why is everything soplicated?


    When I epted that umbre from Ethan on that rainy day, I had no idea that it would lead me to this mess today.


    My headache is getting worst. I kept my eyes closed as I concentrated on just breathing to clear my head. There were so many things that I didn’t fully understand and because of that, I didn’t know how to proceed with my life. Simply put, I didn’t know what I should do. After sitting there to clear my headache for a while, my head did feel less heavy.


    If there was one thing that I was certain of, it was the fact that I wouldn’t be able to figure everything out tonight. Time, I need time.


    Slowly, I got back up on my feet. On shaky legs, I headed to the bathroom for a rxing shower. Hayden’s words ran through my head over and over along with the image of Amelia just sleeping on her bed. The haunting beeps of the machines hooked up to her body wouldn’t stop ringing in my ears whenever I closed my eyes.


    The feel of the warm water falling down from above onto my skin helped somewhat in calming me down. However, nothing could give me the answers that I was looking for.


    Should I tell grandma about this? I felt like it would be better if I talked it out with someone; however, I wasn’t sure if it would worry her even more. Maybe it’s not a good idea to tell her anything. I sighed loudly to myself. Discounting today, I had 7 more days left bounded by this contract. Just one week left.


    After that, who knows what would be of me…


    I got out of the shower and dressed before flopping down onto the bed. My mind was still as messy as before if not more so. I was right, nothing will be figured out today after all. If I keep thinking like this, I’m going to get a migraine. Even though I knew that I couldn’t stop my mind from thinking about it over and over again.


    As Iy sleepless in bed with nothing but the silence of the night as mypanion, I thought of all the things that I just couldn’t understand.


    What I really couldn’t understand was why Hayden still wanted to marry Amelia. He wasn’t in love with her, and he never even dated her. She wasn’t engaged to him because she was engaged to his elder brother. Hayden…what are you thinking?


    Is it possible that he’s been in love with her all along? Now that his brother is dead, he wants to take her for himself? Is that really what is going on here?


    Unfortunately, I never got any answers or reached any sort of conclusion that night. I also didn’t remember when I drifted off the sleep. The headache that I felt the next morning when I woke up told me that I didn’t sleep well at all. That’s to be expected, I thought as I rubbed my stiff neck before stretching.


    --To be continued…