Adriana finished her shower and then with a towel wrapped around her body she fell on her bed and closed her eyes.
"Achoo!"
She groaned in frustration and buried her head in the pillow. She hated this feeling, being sick was so frustrating, annoying, and it angered her.
When she saw an incoming call from Bryan, she sighed in relief and did her best to stand up and grab the phone from her nightstand.
She made it there and answered it. "What are the results?" She asked.
"Your blood is clean…. there's nothing wrong."
"What?"
"I had the best of the best do the testing, there's nothing."
"Then check again!" She yelled and tossed the phone across the room.
When she saw it break in pieces, she pursed her lips and buried her face on her knees.
'I feel horrible. What's happening to me?'
She hoped the flashbacks to the past would stop, but they never did….
Even when she fell asleep, her dreams were full of memories from seven years ago.
*****
7 years ago,
When Melissa dropped her off, Adriana entered Preston Residence with a sigh.
She spent the day in her room working and trying to distract herself from the continuous calls she received from Noah.
The next day after work, she asked the servants to stay away from her room and to inform her if anyone wishes to meet her.
She was so thankful that her mother-in-law was gone for the weakened.
Adriana had no energy to deal with her taunting.
"Why did I need to get such a toxic mother-in-law?" She asked herself, taking off her dress and jumping onto her bed only in her underwear.
She closed her eyes, deciding to take a nap because of how tired she was.
Placing her hand on her tummy, she smiled.
"Where is she?" She heard a familiar voice coming not from far away.
Realizing she had left the door ajar, she bolted from the bed, grabbed a robe and, ran to close the door shut.
She then picked up a towel, some new underwear and made her run towards the bathroom as she heard rapid steps coming closer.
With her hand on the doorknob of the bathroom door, she froze, hearing the door open and then close.
She opened the bathroom door in a hurry, but an arm pulled her back.
"You're back."
'Damn it!'
"I've been dreaming of how good it would feel to hold you after so long, and you sound so disappointed to see I've arrived home."
"I'm not. I'm glad you're back. I missed you." She swallowed and slowly turned around to face him.
"Yeah, and that's why you ran to lock yourself in the bathroom as soon as you heard I arrived." Noah lifted her chin and forced her to meet his eyes.
She looked away and clenched onto the towel in her hand.
Noah sighed and planted a kiss on her nose, then he scooped her off her feet and wrapped her legs around his waist.
He walked her towards their bed and placed her down, laying down next to her.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't contact you because of how busy I got. When I tried calling you, you didn't answer. I was worried, and I came back as soon as I could." He explained.
"Please tell me what's wrong." He begged when she turned her body around, refusing to face him.
"I'm not feeling well." She answered.
"Why?" He asked, placing his hand around her waist and with his lips on her neck.
"I don't want to talk about it right now." She turned around and buried her face in his chest.
He clenched his jaw and kissed her forehead. "I missed you so much."
"I missed you too."
"I won't have any business trips for the rest of the year, I took care of everything. And guess what? We can rent an apartment somewhere else, and then I'll build a house for you. With a backyard, a beautiful garden, and a large study room where you can design as many clothes as you want."
"No more business trips?" She asked carefully.
"Nope!" She smiled and turned around. She picked her phone and changed his contact name from 'Jerk' to 'Noah.'
Every time she was angry at him she would change his contact name to different things, sometimes he would coax her and then change the contact name himself.
"Did I upset you?" He asked, and she nodded.
"I won't leave you again. I'm sorry for doing this to you so much." He apologized, knowing how much it upset her every time he had a business trip.
"I don't like it here." She whispered.
"I want to leave as soon as possible."
It surprised Noah hearing that. He too didn't want to stay with her because he wanted his own space with his wife, but because of his mother's persuasion, he asked Adriana if she was okay with it.
She had agreed and never complained, this was the first time she voiced out her thoughts on living here.
"Then we'll leave. Right now, we can book a hotel and stay there until the apartment is ready."
"You should say goodbye to your mom first, she'll be back on Monday."
"My mom is not my wife, and she's not in our relationship. Please stop considering her when we decide together. I don't like the way you worry about her thoughts on our business." He told her with a serious expression.
"I won't do that anymore, promise."
She gave him a bright smile and closed her eyes, leaning in for a kiss.
That day was when he and his wife finally moved out.
For Adriana, the rest of that weakened was bliss. The weight on her shoulders every time she entered Preston's residence was gone.
It was just her and Noah, no one else.
The relief she felt was indescribable and after the mental exhaustion she received while he was gone, was finally healing, she was ready to tell him about her pregnancy.
But of course... things didn't go her way.
Everything seemed to go against her.
….
A few days later,
Adriana hung up the call after telling Briana she had a miscarriage and wanted to meet up for 'emotional support'.
Yes, this was her plan. She would expose the little b*tch.
She was in high spirits because she thought she could go back to her life without feeling scared every time she saw Briana.
The following day, when she was supposed to meet up with Briana, but things took a tragic turn.
"How are you feeling?" Noah asked.
He was sitting on the couch with documents on the coffee table and facing the floor to ceiling windows in their new apartment.
"Better." She responded with a smile and was about to walk up behind him and hug him.
"You know you could have told me. I wouldn't have gone against you, I just wished you had told me."
She frowned when she heard the pain in his voice.
"What are you talking about?"
Noah took a deep breath and stood up, picking up a hospital paper from the coffee table.
He walked towards her and handed it to her.
"Did you not think I deserved to know? I know you weren't ready to be a mom, but… we could have figured it out together. I now understand, why you had been feeling unwell. Why you couldn't look at me properly and you avoided talking about how you have been feeling."
He gritted his teeth and tried to remain calm.
Adriana looked down at the paper in her hands, and she looked up at him in disbelief.
The trap she had set up had backfired. She tried to open her mouth, but she couldn't.
"Please tell me, why did you do this? I don't want to believe what everyone is telling me, that's why I'm asking you why. I trust you more than anything in the world, love just give me an explanation."
Adriana just stared at him blankly.
She couldn't open her mouth. She was struck with horror, and her heart trembled in fear.
Briana's threat replayed in her mind like a broken record.
"I-" She let the document fall on the floor and she turned around.
She walked towards the door, needing to process this situation.
"Adriana, don't you dare walk away on me!"
Everything suddenly went black with Noah's voice echoing in her head.
All she did was run, and that's all she could remember.
Running. Like a coward.
…..
Present-day:
Adriana looked up at the ceiling, feeling hot wet tears falling from her eyes.
Her skin was as pale as a sheet, and she was still in a trance because of the dream.
She was also still in her towel and her body was sweaty; she did not know what was happening to her.
After composing herself she took a nice warm bath, trying to wrap her brain around whatever was happening to her.
About an hour later, she walked out and changed into a white tank top and black sweatpants.
She started looking for her phone, but when she saw its state she reached out for the phone on her nightstand.
When she had called her doctor, she packed a few clothes and picked out a sweater.
She left a note for Cristy, and before leaving she wanted to eat something.
It was still 4 in the morning and she was exhausted.
Adriana cut the apple into small slices and paused when she heard almost soundless steps coming from behind her.
They were too silent for it to be Kimberly or Cristy. With the knife in her hand, she turned around and held it up to the man's neck.
"Whoa, there."
"Good, I always wanted to slit your throat." Adriana laughed, recognizing him.
"I don't think you can do that." Sanders chuckled with a provocative smile, raising his hands in the air.
"Would you like to try me?"
"You can't because I have the cure to the poison inside your body."
Adriana let the knife down, and her lips twitched.
"Why?" She asked.
"I thought you had turned against me and gave Ms. Brooklyn something that could keep you sick in bed for a few days and away from her sight. She asked me to forget it since you were coming back to Paris, but it was too late you had already drunk the coffee."
"I didn't know you had such a motive behind your support for her engagement."
Adriana gritted her teeth, realizing she had taken coffee from someone at LABELS who she had marked as Briana's minion. She was careless and had not expected Briana to harm her, but with Sanders by her side, it wouldn't be too hard.
"It was a misunderstanding on my part. I apologize, but…. heh."
"Sanders, I told you that if you appeared before me again, I would murder you. What gave you the guts to show up in front of me?"
"As I said you- " He raised the hands he was about to lower when he felt the cold knife against his skin.
"I value my hatred for you more than my own life." Adriana gave him a small smile.
He scoffed. "What an honor."
"Let me take you to the hospital, I can't give you the antidote in your state."
"Why did you only come now?"
"I wanted to let you suffer for a little while, I didn't expect your body to react so intensely." He answered looking at her state.
She turned around and continued slicing her apple without responding.
When she felt another incoming headache, she paused.
****
7 years ago:
"Did you actually expect my help? After all of what you've done? Noah might believe you, but I'm not a fool. I can't believe this is your actual character."
Angel, one of her closest friends said. She felt another arrow stab her heart.
She had heard enough harsh words this week, all her closest friends turning on her and people believing the nonsense spreading around.
Of all people, she didn't expect Angel to turn on her as well.
"Before you go, could you at least answer my question honestly?" She swallowed the lump and her throat and held back her tears.
"Yes, I sent him the documents. I wouldn't have kept what you did to him and your child to myself. He needed to know."
"Did you at least investigate it properly?" Adriana asked again, taking a deep breath.
"What is there to investigate? You can't be mad that your true colors are showing, right? It was going to happen eventually, and I'm glad it's happening right now." He told her and walked out on her, just as everyone did.
She was now alone.
There was no one she could trust or talk to. No one she could confide in.
She walked towards the apartment door and locked it.
Gripping onto the doorknob, she sobbed.
The memories of the last few days were haunting, and every time she tried to speak she was left frozen.
A great fear was installed in her like a program, and every time she tried to speak it overcame her. She did her best, but it was impossible.
She didn't fear for her life, but the one in her stomach.
All she did was receive threats, rejection, and deception these past few days.
It would be an understatement to say she was traumatized by fear.
…..
Present:
"Adriana?"
"W-what?" Adriana took a deep breath in and poured herself a glass of water, trying to keep her calm.
"I wish I could see what you're hallucinating at this moment. I knew this to be one of the side effects, but it's amusing watching you in this state." Sanders chuckled, picking up her already prepared bag.
She swallowed hard, helping herself from literally choking him to death.
"I suggest we leave now before you start hallucinating again."
"This is the poison I asked for, isn't it?" She asked, placing the glass of water down with a thud and following him outside, only to find her men knocked down on the ground.
"It is a version, at least. The other is much worse."
"Good." She mumbled, entering his parked car.
He walked into the driver's seat and asked, "You're not saving it for the Brooklyn girl, right?"
"That would mean showing mercy, I'm not a merciful person."