Chapter 44
LEIGH-ARI
The following days passed in a blur. The twins decided to have a new security system installed and
doubled up on the guards on patrol. The motion sensors were upgraded by a hundred, the CCTVs in the
west wing were also installed. I had fought with them tooth and nail for installing the cameras in my
room. They imed it was for my safety and I understood that, but I wasn’t going to be under
surveince even when I was sleeping. The bedroom was my safe fortress, where I escaped to when
everything got too much. It was the only thing that was keeping me sane even though it didn’t belong to
me alone (since the ; twins had taken the liberty to sleep with me against my will.). Having the cameras
installed was going to deprive me of the little sense of privacy that was left and I wasn’t going to let them
take that little piece of me away. They had taken too much already and I didn’t have anything left of
myself. 1
Vernero wanted to be pig-headed about it, and then I told him if they go ahead with that and don’t
respect my decision and my feelings, then I’d leave. I remember their reaction vividly. They had frozen
for a full minute. Just stood there and stared at me, unmoving as if someone had hit pause on them.
Then they had shaken themselves out of the daze and gave in. And just like that, I had sessfully
saved the little strand of sanity I was hanging on.
And Xander on the side, he was still as mysterious as before. Very unseen. His movements were swift
and very undetected. Despite the gazillion cameras, top-notch sensors, and guards, he managed to slip
a few things into my room and remained undetected. Within days, I had gotten used to his unannounced
appearance and the little “gifts” he left behind when he didn’t show himself, just to let me know he was
still there watching me. It didn’t freak me out like it had the first time he just popped up in my bedroom.
I didn’t know how to feel about him, about his stalking ways. Because he was an expert at it. A t the
same time, he didn’t seem to be fostering any malevolent intentions towards me. But that didn’t mean I
was going to recline on my throne and just rx. I was so alert and cautious about everything, one thing
I have learned since stepping foot in this castle. 1
As of now, I was caught up between telling the twins about him. But the only thing that made me bite my
tongue was the thought of what they’d do to him. They wouldn’t just butcher him, they would destroy his
possible existence as well as one of his ancestors and descendants. H e would be a history in a matter
of hours, minutes and it wouldn’t be pretty. I hated it when people died, especially because I was
involved.
I couldn’t have his death or anyone’s pinned on me or have someone’s blood on my hands, even if my
safety was at stake. It’s not like I hadn’t experienced the worst things ever in my life. Trust me, I have
seen the devil all by himself. And one of his evil spirits is not knowing
anything about me before the ident.
Additionally, Xander didn’t seem to harbor any ill intentions towards me, or at least that’s what I thought.
The second night, he left a note. And it read;
Beware of those you keep near,
Xander
I didn’t know what it meant or what he was implying, but he was definitely warning me about something
or someone. And that made me soften a little when I thought of him. Although I still didn’t understand
how he made it past the security into my bedroom without getting caught every time or why he was
stalking me. Maybe he wanted to use me as a bargaining chip in their shady shenanigans, I honestly
didn’t know.
The note, I burned it to ashes, I couldn’t keep it and risk it being found the twins. I honestly didn’t want to
think what they would do if they knew Xander has been here on multiple asions and I stayed quiet
about it.
OCC
Everything was a mess and in all honesty, I was tired of this life, I was drained, mentally, physically, and
emotionally. Everything was just so crazy. The twins who didn’t allow me to step outside the ‘walls of the
castle, Xander the ninja stalker, and whoever that was working i n shadows against me that Xander
warned me about, not being allowed to connect to the outside world, it was all too much for me. I missed
my old life like crazy. I missed the morning rush, I missed driving through the morning traffic, the little
beeps of my pager when there were emergencies at the hospital. The OR, my doctor, I missed cotton
candy outside the kids’ hospital. I wasn’t happy here. At all. In fact, I was miserable.
I was a prisoner. Yes, one would think I am crazy, I mean no prisoner wears designer clothes and lives in
a castle full of maids.
But like a caged butterfly, pping its wings inside the bars of the cage, seeing the goodness and luxury
of the outside world and craving freedom. While the freedom it hungered for was just here, just right
outside the golden bars of thevish cage. Simultaneously, it was out of its reach, because it couldn’t p
its wings in the cramped space of the golden cage. The cage which it was forced to live in.
I was that butterfly. Lonely, sad, missing my old life, and craving freedom.
The sudden gunshots jolted me out of my seat, spilling the popcorns out of their little bowl. And that’s
when I realized I had spaced out.
I was currently hiding in the theatre between the two wings, with a bunch of snacks to kill time. The
movie had rolled by while I was lost in thought. Instead of rewinding it, I huffed out and leaned for the
remote control, then switched off the screen and got up from the seat.
Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org.
A little pang of headache had me wincing just a bit.
The meds! I hadn’t taken any. That made me recall the good times in Dubai, with Laura. The
twins sent her to collect my pills from my apartment and then flew her to Dubai. Their little acts of
kindness always managed to cocoon my heart with warmth. Just how could they be s o warm yet so
cold? That question was always nagging me, and sadly, I didn’t have an answer to it.