I was thirsty... Again! I drink a lot of water, it helps me control my hunger. I know I don't need to do that right now, I had escaped that place but habits take time to change. I went towards the kitchen and this time made sure I wore my robe. I took the bottle from the fridge and closed it. I turned around and saw my grandma, staring up at me with a teasing smile on her face. "Why is she smiling like that?" I thought to myself.

"Oh Rosy you came at the right time sweetheart, I have to carry this tea on the second floor. I don't understand why these rich idiots always live in enormous houses like kings. Ugh! Monarchy everywhere!" She sighed and moved her head disapprovingly.

"Though I am not that old, my bones just don't want to agree with me, so can you please help me take this glass of juice upstairs?" she requested, the smile never leaving her face.

"Okay grams but whom do you want me to give this to. You know I can't deal with the aunt and her daughters"

"Oh don't you worry, it's just Adriano."

"What!" Does she really expect me to do that?

"Pwease! Pwease! Pwease!" she said trying to talk like a child while showing me her version of puppy eyes which was kind of funny and cute, to see a 70-year-old woman trying to act like a child.

I sighed defeated "Okay grams, I'll go" I knew she won't stop until I agree.

"Thank you, sweetheart. You are the best. By the way, his room is just the one besides yours. Enjoy!" with that, she gave me the cup of tea and practically ran away from the kitchen.

I sighed. My grams was always the weirdest but I still love her so much. She is one of the few people in my life who doesn't hate me.

I went upstairs with the cup in my hand and was about to knock on his door but stopped myself as I saw that it was already slightly ajar. So I thought to just open it and see. I opened the door and saw something which broke my heart into million pieces.

There were two people in that room. Adriano and Jane. And guess what, they were... kissing. My already broken heart shattered into pieces.

They broke the kiss abruptly when they saw me. There was an awkward silence in the air. I was staring at the ground because if I looked up I would have an emotional breakdown right here. From the corner of my eye I saw that Adriano was about to speak when Jane abruptly broke him and spoke "Hey Alice, I am sorry you had to see that." She paused awkwardly "Umm...did you need something?"

I finally looked up, after blinking back the tears and planted my signature smirk on my face. "Yeah, grams told me to bring this tea." I kept the cup on the table beside me. "Please don't stop at my account, I was just about to leave. Enjoy!" and with that, I almost ran towards my room. Tears were now falling like a waterfall from my eyes. I should have expected this to happen eventually.

You did this to yourself, Alice. You did!

Adriano's pov

I was in my room changing my shirt when I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in," I told the person, thinking it was probably grandma who might have brought her world-famous tea. I have no idea what she puts in that tea but it would immediately make me feel better.

"Hey!" a female voice said which was clearly not of grams. I jerked my head towards the door and saw Jane stepping in into my room. I turned fully towards her after buttoning my shirt. "Hey, did u need something?" I asked.

"No, can't I meet you without needing something?" she said coming towards me.

"Of course, you can," I told her, a little confused by her actions. In a blink of my eye, she was so close to me, our noses almost touching each other. Both her hands were on the collar of my shirt, pulling me towards her.

"What are you doing!" I asked, trying to put some gap between us.

"What do you mean Adri. We are going to get married soon. This is the least we can do. Can't I even spend some time with my soon-to-be husband?" she whispered the last sentence while biting her lips and before I could say something, she crashed her lips on mine with such a force that I had to hold onto her waist to keep my balance. I was shocked and didn't know what to do.

But... I think maybe she was right, we are going to get married and this is what is supposed to happen. But I didn't feel any sparks during our kiss. It was not like how I felt with Alice. Shut up you dickhead! Stop thinking about her, she doesn't care at all. You and her are over and the thing you had with her can never happen again. I cursed myself.

I pulled away as soon as I saw someone standing at the door from the corner of my eye. I looked at the person, thinking it was grams. My eyes widened when I saw Alice instead, holding the cup of tea. Her hands were shaking as if she had no energy to hold onto that cup and the look on her face made me feel guilty. It was like she was about to have a breakdown right there. She broke our one-second eye contact at started staring at the floor like it was the most interesting thing in this world, probably trying to hide her feelings and stop her tears from falling. I opened my mouth to speak but Jane spoke cutting my words mid-air. "Hey Alice, I am sorry you had to see that." She paused awkwardly "Umm...did you need something?"

Alice finally looked up and plastered a smirk on her face, as if nothing happened, like she wasn't just about to have a mental breakdown. "Yeah, grams told me to bring this tea." She spoke with no emotion and kept the cup on the table beside me. "Please don't stop at my account, I was just about to leave. Enjoy!" She said looking into my eyes, even though she was amazing at hiding her emotions, I could still see the hurt and pain in her eyes. They never lie.
And with that said she turned around and left the room.

"Shit!" I cursed audibly while running a hand through my hair.

"What?" I said to Jane who was looking at me like I said something very stupid.

"Are you regretting it Adriano?" she said with a voice filled with hurt.

"I don't mean that Jane. It's just... It's weird and new to me. She was the one I loved and the one who betrayed me and now she's back when I am going to get married to you. I don't know how to feel or act."

"Then you shouldn't be concerned about her. Adriano, she does not care. You and I both need to move on from the past. None of us wanted anything like that to happen, but she betrayed everyone. You can't always be trapped by the past. We need to move on. We are getting married. I even told her about my marriage with you before, on the call. Even after all that, she still came. That would only mean she doesn't care and a-and I- I love you!" she abruptly said.

I was shocked after hearing that. Seeing me in a complete state of shock she started looking at the ground and fiddled with her fingers "You don't have to answer now. I know it's difficult for you to accept this after everything that has happened. You can take your time to reply to my confession. I-I should now go downstairs, the lunch is ready. Come soon." With that, she left the room.

Maybe she is right, maybe I should just move on. But this woman who once ruled over my heart just doesn't seem to go from there. She still has her place in my heart. And those scars, the way she plastered that smirk on her face to hide her feelings, the way she panicked when I saw her scars, and now the way I saw her hide the hurt expression on her face with that smirk, makes me confused and curious as to what is going in her mind and what might have happened to her? Does she really not care or is there some other reason as to why she is acting this way? She is a mystery for now, but I will soon solve it.