Anastasia Rayburn opened her eyes with a gasp.
Had it been real or was it all just a figment of her imagination?
She desperately hoped with all her heart that it was just a nightmare - a dream of her overworked and tired mind because if it was real then her situation was too bleak to even think about.
Sitting up, her eyes darted around her surroundings and took in the area around her.
She was not in her bedroom at The Rayburn Household or even her own apartment in The Crystal Tower.
No.
One look at the whitewashed walls around her and all the medical contraptions around her was enough of a clue to determine her current location.
Anastasia's body tensed as soon as she realised her circumstances, Her hands gripped the bedsheets so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
She recalled with perfect clarity the recent happenings before she had been rushed to the hospital on an ambulance.
Her parents were dead!
She didn't want to believe that the two people who had been her entire world were no more, that the people she had been talking to and laughing with just a week ago had passed away in a matter of minutes. Their life snuffed out as easily as a slight breeze extinguisher the flicker of a candle flame.
She couldn't remember the last few minutes she had spent trying and failing to protect her family.
The three of them had been Dad's study - discussing a new plan for Rayburn Industries to invest in new medical research that had been purported to be some kind of boon for Alzheimer patients and which would rake in mountains of money for their family.
All of a sudden, they had heard the intruder alarm go off and they had wondered if it was a stray animal that had once again triggered the Ultrasonic Detectors. The sensors never seemed to distinguish between intruders or animals so, they had become somewhat accustomed to the slow beeping of the alarm to go off at various inopportune moments.
None of them had paid any attention to it and hadn't even bothered to call the security chief to ask if everything was fine.
This had proved to be their fatal mistake because, within a few minutes, two intruders had entered the study - guns blazing and sharp words.
Her father had instinctively pushed her behind his body to give her some minimal form of protection and her mother had cocked her own gun to fight fire with fire. However, the intruders had devastating precision and at the end of the day, the three of the Rayburns were civilians at their core.
How could they have fought head-on with people who had come with malevolent intentions?
She remembered being in a tug of war with her father - trying to pull him towards the bookcase that hid a secret door to get out of the room. She recalled with perfect clarity as one of those intruders had turned towards them and her father had pushed her behind the door and locked it decisively behind him.
She had fallen at that point and had lost her consciousness.
She had woken up a day later to the devastating news of the death of her parents.
It had been a week since she had first woken up to the new reality of her world and since then, she had always seen her younger paternal uncle or his son by her bedside wherever she regained consciousness - concern evident in their faces and soft, dulcet tones.
However, she had also seen behind the thin veneer of loving gestures - their unquenchable thirst for the money and the business empire her father had raised with his own sweat and blood.
She had noticed the covetousness that they hadn't been able to hide behind their crocodile tears at the death of the first and main branch of The Rayburn family.
The second branch must be jubilant in their hearts thinking about being able to have their cake and eat it too and she herself had no way out.
No way to protect the business her parents had given their all to raise, no way to protect the company from being taken over by her uncle, no way to unite the other shareholders because when it came to materialistic wealth, it was everyone for themselves.
She swallowed thickly as she saw Cadmien Rayburn - her eldest cousin from her younger maternal uncle enter her hospital room. Atleast, Cadmien had answered some of her questions the past few days - the ones he had been bothered to answer anyway. Anastasia had found herself less than satisfied with the word games he had pulled.
It seemed that Cadmien Rayburn had decided to take off some of his masks off after the death of the patriarch of the Rayburn family. Apparently, he wasn't worried about any kind of retaliation or retribution from her.
Hah.
Why would he?
After all, she was just a twenty-year-old girl who was still wet behind the ears and she herself knew that she was powerless to do anything.
She had already cried her eyes out and now she simply felt numb to everything going on around her.
She didn't want to closely look into the business matter because it would only lead to more heartache for her and she didn't want to particularly shed any more tears.
Cadmien made his way over to the sofa by her bedside and asked, "feeling better, cousin?"
"Still a few bruises and aches here and there but I'll live," she replied in a hoarse voice, though she internally flinched at the sarcasm she didn't been able to hide in her words.
Anastasia once again cursed herself for not being able to hold her tongue and gave a shallow smile to Camden to take the sting out of her words.
He didn't let her go for the slight and replied dryly, "You look awful, cousin."
She inclined her head in lieu of saying something else and sparking another verbal spar.
Cadmien gave her a gentle smile and reached for her hand. He gave it a few comforting pats, "I know the situation you are in but cousin we are all just trying to do what's best for everyone."
She simply nodded in response though she wanted to question if his father taking over the position of the acting head of the company and Cadmien being made the general manager of the conglomerate was truly in her best interests.
After that, the conversation tapered off and the room once again turned silent but that didn't mean her thoughts had stopped going round and round in her head.
Gathering her courage, she turned towards Cadmien once again and asked the question that had been bothering her ever since she learnt of the demise of her parents.
"Cadmien, What's going to happen to me now that mum and dad are dead? I mean, I am an adult legally but I can't work in the company until I am twenty-five and I still need to complete my education."
He looked uncomfortable at her question and his eyes didn't meet her own.
This raised ringing alarm bells in her brain.
"Cadmien?" She tried to prompt him.
With a difficult look on his face, he answered, "That's something we all have been thinking about too. I am sure it will all turn out for the best."
A few minutes later, he made some excuse of being busy with work and left her room with rushed footsteps and she didn't try to make him stay longer.