Clara wasn't able to rest even for a second as her mind kept drifting back to Adrian. It had been four years since she had last seen him but the memories they shared were still fresh in her mind.
He was the man she fell in love with, someone she thought to be the knight in shining armor who was her protector, but everything was a lie.
'I will never leave you Clara and it's a promise' his words stab like a knife in her heart. Everything he said was a lie even his identity was false.
How did she become so dumb to never see the truth behind a pretentious person?
Closing her eyes she lay on the bed. She kept recalling why he had lied to her in the first place. Why did he make her fall in love with him when he had to leave?
"Argh Clara!!! don't go thinking too much for that man. He had already caused a lot of damage and now, you can't let him fool you again"
Clara wasn't as innocent as before. These four years of hardship made her a mature lady; now she could see through anyone's intentions toward her and would never let anyone crumble on her self-respect as they did back then.
With a determined look in her eyes, Clara sat on the bed and started looking at the list Austin mailed her a while back. She was surprised to see how a twenty-seven-year-old man can be so careless when it comes to his health that he needs assistance to look after himself.
As she began reading, Clara suddenly screamed," WHAT!! Is this man insane? Who asks his assistant to cook"
Clara couldn't believe her eyes after what she read. Adrian wanted her to cook for him three meals every day and also make sure she would manage to make him finish the entire food without leaving anything behind.
"Is he a baby who needs pampering?" she asked herself and then went to read the other points," After dinner make sure boss goes to bed as he finds it hard to sleep without consuming alcohol"
Clara creased when she read the word Alcohol." When did he start drinking?" she mumbled remembering that Adrian wasn't used to consuming drinks and that too to fall asleep.
This was something new she found about him. She knew he had a problem sleeping but he never took the help of drinks to consume sleep.
Clara kept on reading as she learned many new things about Adrian that changed over time.
She then opened another file that contained Adrian's reports that mentioned the graph of his hemoglobin level.
"How did he turn so careless that he doesn't even worry about his health" Clara's frown deepened looking at the mismatched graph.
The Adrian she knew back then looked so different from the one she saw today. His lifeless eyes gave her chills. 'What changed him so much?' she thought.
*****
"Are you sure it was her?" an elderly man asked.
"Yes, I can't be wrong" the old lady answered.
Benson couldn't believe it when Olivia told him that she had seen Clara, who was the disowned daughter of Alexander Mathew.
Benson was a butler who served Mathews for so many years while Olivia was Clara's nanny who pampered her like her own child.
After her mother's death, Olivia was the one who took care of her until one day Alexander married Racheal bringing her daughter Regina along to the mansion.
They thought Racheal was a kind lady who would treat Clara as her mother but that woman turned out to be vicious and not to forget her daughter who wasn't less than her.
Regina was just like her mother who liked to snatch everything from Clara by manipulating her with her sweet words.
Thinking about the past Olivia felt bad," She seems so different. She even failed to recognize me" she said as sadness surged up in her eyes and voice.
Olivia went to post a letter to her children who stayed away from her in a village where she couldn't talk with them on the cellphone and only letters were sent.
Fortunately, that day she happens to stumble on Clara who had gone missing for four years. After that unfortunate night, she walked out of the house without taking any of her belongings, and from that day, she never returned.
They both had been looking for her and finally, they found her after all these years but she declined to know them.
"Benson...." a loud angry voice roared from the living hall scaring both Olivia and him.
"Go...go or else she would get mad" Olivia pushed the butler out of the kitchen fearing the elder miss would get upset with him.
"Yes, Madame" Benson reached out soon before Racheal again called him and stood in front of her with his head down.
Rachael didn't like to repeat things which was why everyone around here would react to her only in one call.
"Why isn't my car ready yet?" Racheal asked looking at the time and then having a check on herself before turning her attention to Benson.
"It's already waiting for you outside Madame," he said politely ignoring, the fact that he couldn't stand this pretentious woman.
For the outside world, she was a kind, loving lady but only they knew what resided behind that considerate mask.
Without waiting for a second Racheal carried her handbag and walked out of the mansion. Being a socialite, Racheal had been doing much stuff to earn people's trust as a good lady but very few knew how many evil schemes she had done to reach that place.
Shaking his head, butler Benson then walked to the room of the second daughter of this house. Regina who was yet to wake up. The girl was such a spoiled brat that even after becoming an actress she still lacked morals.
Regina was just like her mother but a little slower when it came to scheming. She would always need her mother's help, to clean the mess she makes every time her scandals surface on the news channel.
Reaching the first floor of the mansion, Benson knocked on Regina's door hoping she would finally wake up after her deep slumber. And just when he was about to leave, the door opened and the view he was welcoming him made him widen his eyes in shock.
The entire room was turned upside down with the clothes shattered on the floor, and even the bed was a mess but wait who was that man?
Benson frowned when he again saw her returning home with her new sleeping buddy.
"Benson, why are you disturbing me," Regina said getting annoyed at Benson who disturbed her peaceful sleep.
She had been partying the entire night and even bought a new man to spend time with him. She had so much fun the entire night that she didn't realize that she had to send the man before anyone could see him.