Diamond didn't answer. She walked back to her bed and lied down.
"It's stinks in here." Ayden covered up his nose.
Diamond rolled her eyes.
"What happened?" Zara asked again, rushing to sit on the bed.
"Please talk to us. Do you have a terminal disease? Were you fired from work? What happened?" Ayden added, looking so concern.
Diamond didn't answer. Her friends watched her quietly, waiting patiently for her to let go of the burden and share it with them. They won't mind to carry the burden for her as long as it is been shared between the three of them.
"Diamond?" Ayden urged, squeezing her legs gently.
Diamond sniffled as she sat upright on the bed.
"Your eyes are swollen." Zara pointed out the obvious. "Have you been crying in here?"
"Well..."
"Wait a second." Ayden cut her off. "When last did you brush your teeth?"
Diamond shot him a hard glare.
"It's only a question." He defended sheepishly when Zara also shot him a hard glare.
"Do you want to listen to my explanation or keep judging me for having a stinky breath?"
"Don't listen to him, Diamond. Keep talking." Zara told her.
Diamond hesitated.
"I broke up with Felix."
"WHAT!?" Zara and Ayden gasped in unison, eyes widened and mouth left hanging open.
"Why so surprise? Isn't that normal in every relationship?" Diamond frowned.
"It is but definitely not in your case. You love Felix so much. You've been with him for over seven years...since high school. What changed?" Zara asked.
"Things happened..." Diamond answered.
"Things like what? Losing interest in the relationship and then break up?" Ayden queried.
"He...uhm..." She gulped nervously. "He..." She find it so hard to let those painful words out of her chest.
"Talk to us." Zara urged.
"Yes. We will never judge you, trust us." Ayden said softly, giving her a reassuring smile.
"He...cheated on me." She mumbled, lowering her gaze.
It was dead silent in the room until loud cracks of knuckles and muscles filled the room.
Diamond looked up and found Ayden cracking himself up.
"Wha...what are you doing?"
"I swear I'm going to kill that fucking bastard." He bellowed angrily.
Ayden hardly gets angry or annoyed. He was known for his smile and optimistic nature. The one who gets unnecessarily angry or worked up was Zara followed by Diamond.
But the most dangerous amongest them was Ayden. Don't fucking make the quiet lion angry. Because quietness doesn't signify weakness.
"I am right behind you." Zara said. "How dare he? How dare that fucking bastard hurt you like this? After everything you've been through with him? Who's the damn bitch, huh?"
Diamond swallowed hard, fiddling with her fingers.
"Layla." She whispered.
Zara furrowed her brows. "Wait, why does that name sound so familiar?"
"I know, right?" Ayden creased his brows as he tried to remember where he has heard the name from.
"Maybe we heard it from a movie or something." Zara waved it off. "Who is she? Do we know her?"
"You didn't hear the name from a movie, Zara. We all know this girl."
"Who?" Ayden and Zara asked.
"His best friend."
"HOLY SHIT!" Zara gasped.
"What the fuck?" Ayden blurted.
"You mean, he has been fucking his best friend?" Zara asked while Diamond nodded her head in reply. "For how long?"
"Uh...two years."
"That's it. I'm killing that idiot." Ayden stormed out of the room.
"Ayden," Diamond called out but there was no answer. "Shit, I have to stop him."
"Stop him? Are you kidding me? And why should we?" Zara rolled her eyes. "Let him go over there and beat the living daylight out of him. As for me," Zara tied up her hair and picked up an empty bottle of whiskey from the floor. "I am going to break that bitch's head and then pay for my crime."
"No. You are not going to do that."
"Yes. I will." Zara turned to leave but stopped. "Wait," She veered around. "Why is this empty?" Diamond bite her lip, guilty, looking away from Zara. "Don't tell me you locked yourself in here for two freaking days and drank this alcohol because of that jerk?"
"I am heartbroken, okay?"
"Heartbroken?" Zara scoffed. "Assuming he died in a car accident, or he was diagnosed with a terminal illness or something," She leaned closer to Diamond. "You can hide in here and cry as you want while drinking...that's heartbreak and it's okay to feel dead for excuses like that but that motherfucker cheated on you.
He's not worth the tears or this." She gestured at the empty bottle. "You better get out of that bed and move on." Zara stormed out of the room.
Diamond stared at the door, tears streaming down her face.
'Could Zara be any wrong?' She thought to herself.
*****
ITALY
OSPEDALE DEL SOLE (SUNSHINE HOSPITAL)**
#Three Weeks Later
Nothing has changed.
If anything, her condition were getting worse each passing day.
Mikhail was fucking scared.
He was cradling his beautiful daughter in his arms, trying to stop her loud cries.
"Shh, daddy is here." He said calmly, bouncing her in his arms.
Marcello stepped inside alongside the head of maids, Evelyn.
"Here, let me have her." Evelyn offered, as she collected the baby from Mikhail.
Aurora slowly stopped crying and was sleeping now.
"Any news?" He asked Marcello.
Marcello sighed. "Calm down, sir."
"You haven't said anything yet and you are already asking me to calm down?" He asked in annoyance.
Marcello let out a deep breath before saying. "It was him."
"Who?"
"Octavius."
"What the fuck!?"
"Every evidence points at him. And to finalize everything, he has left town. No one knows about his whereabout. He has been missing for three weeks now. It's almost as if he disappeared two weeks after achieving his mission."
"That bastard!" Mikhail growled. "Find him. Make sure you find him. I won't rest until I kill that motherfucker."
"I love this side of you, sir. And I promise not to stop looking until I find him."
****
LA
Bff's Apartment**
"What are you going to do now?" Zara asked.
"I don't know,,," Diamond shrugged.
"Here," Ayden handed the girls two plates of grilled fish and salad. "My special recipe."
"Good for you." The girls rolled their eyes as they collected their food.
"Smells delicious, though." Diamond complimented.
"My culinary skills are improving each passing second. I know I'm good." He self praised.
"I hope we won't eat this and regret." Zara murmured, shaking her head.
"You can save yourself now by not eating the food." Ayden eyed her.
Diamond laughed as she took a bite of the grilled fish.
"Wow." She moaned. "I think I'm going to get an orgasm."
Zara and Ayden chuckled.
"You did well." She gave Ayden a thumbs up.
"Thank you." Ayden dramatically bowed his head.
"You haven't listened to my judgement." Zara pouted.
"Who cares?"
"Fool."
They ate silently until Ayden broke the ice tube.
"Are you going to try out more writing contests?"
Diamond shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe? To be honest, after getting fired, I seem to lost interest in writing."
"You are kidding." Zara stated.
"I wish I was."
"Why?" Ayden asked
"That's the thing. I don't know."
"You should keep writing, Diamond. Don't give up simply because you are jobless." Ayden winked.
"Okay, that sound a little bit insulting." She smiled.
"Sorry."
A comfortable silent del between them again. It was Zara to break it this time around.
"How are things with you and...you know who?" She wriggled her brows.
"No, I don't know who." Diamond retorted, wriggling her brows as well.
"Oh come on."
"What?"
"You know who I'm talking about so stop acting oblivious."
"There's nothing going on with me and Amir, if that's what you are talking about."
"Amir is a nice guy."
"That's exactly what I thought about Felix."
"Amir isn't Felix." Ayden reminded.
"I don't want to date...for now."
"For now." Zara repeated. "That means you are going to date when the time is right?"
"Should we even be talking about dating right now? I just broke up with Felix."
"Three weeks ago." Zara shrugged, giving her the 'it's time to forget about him and move on' look.
"Can we just eat in peace?" She grunted.
"Fine." Ayden and Zara agreed.
They silently ate until...
"Amir really likes you." Zara muttered.
"Ugh!"
Diamond's bedroom**
Her phone rung, disrupting her quiet time.
She muffled out a groan, grabbing the phone and then answered the call.
"Dad,"
"Sweetheart, how are you?"
"I'm fine. You?"
"I'm doing well."
"You were the last person call I expected, honestly. Is something wrong?"
"Can't I call to check up on my lovely daughter again, huh?"
She smiled. "Of course, you can."
"So," Rhodes cleared his throat. "How is my favorite daughter doing?"
"Favorite?" Diamond chuckled.
"You are my favorite daughter." He said.
Diamond rolled her eyes, leaning back to the headboard. "I am your only daughter."