GOLDEN HEART 12

THIRD PERSON POV

It was a very Dark night without neither the moonlight nor the stars to guide the lost. In a dark alley somewhere in Winden, two barely prominent shadows were having what seemed to be a rather discreet meeting.

‘Everything is going according to the plan, we’re just few steps away from achieving our goal.’ Smirked the woman, evilly.

‘Are you sure you can continue the plan without hindrance?’ Asked the guy, worry etching all over his features.

‘What is that supposed to mean? And what’s with that expression?’ The woman asked offended.

‘You know for how many years we’ve been planning this, for our sake and for…’ He sighed. ‘I guess I’m just a bit worried.’ He added calmly after awhile.

‘That I’ll forget the main reason I’m doing all this, that I’ll forget what we went through that easily? I’m offended, Großer Bruder!’

‘You know that’s not what I mean because according to the vow we will remind you if you ever forget.’ He said in his usual stern tone that never failed to hold a warning in it.

However she knew she deserve what will happen to her if she ever forgot her initial goal, their enemy deserve no peace after wrecking their lives up.

‘But?’ She urged, knowing that there is something else bothering him.

‘Affection has to destroy something for it to heal another. It’s lethal on our mission. It will make you choose one of the two one day.’ He kept it at that.

‘It’s the least I can give him. Love maybe out of question, but that small bit of affection is something I can’t deprive him of. For my sake, otherwise, guilt will eat me alive.’ The woman replied sadly.

‘For his sake, you better keep it neutral. Always be on guard, you don’t know when or who will take advantage of the first moment you put your guards down.’ The man advised before putting the hoodie on, and retreating into darkness.

She knew what he meant by keeping it neutral, she must have showed too much emotions while speaking about him.

He must have felt disappointed that she couldn’t control her expressions after he helped her mastering the said art to perfection.

She spent few moments standing in the same place, lost in her thoughts before finally snapping out of it and turning around and start walking towards the black sports car she parked couple of blocks away.

For normal people, being in that side of the city in such hour was suicidal even for men, let alone a woman walking alone.

However she wasn’t just anyone, she was a lot more than just a delicate secretary of a billionaire. She was more than capable of handing masters in martial arts let alone some lousy drunk men or good for nothing perverts.

Life taught her multiple lessons, among them to fight for anything she wanted, and she wanted nothing more than avenging them. So she has to fight for her wish to come true.

When she reached her car, she hopped in and sped down the road. She was glad the streets were empty, which allowed her to drive the way she used to.

She missed how free and other worldly amazing being behind the steering wheel made her feel, she rolled the window down allowing the strong breeze to play with her short locks before she travelled down the memory lane.

FLASHBACKS

She was about to get into her car to test it before the race when someone nudged her gently to get her attention.

‘Yes?’ She asked when she turned around to the shy boy that was blushing furiously while holding her phone in his hands and forwarding them towards her.

‘They said it - it’s an emergency.’ He said stuttering.

It was nothing new for men in the track to surround her, she was the Diva of the racing world. Everybody wanted to get close to the anonymous and cold yet beautiful fairy who dominated the domain.

No one knew she was the secretary and fiancé of the notorious businessman Adam Knight, she made sure they knew her as Annalise, rather than Justine.

All except for one person, Adam Knight who attended each and every race ever since he knew she was one of the racers, and even though he was always worried about her, she never failed to make him proud with how she lived up to her reputation.

She picked up the phone from the boy after thanking him, ‘Justine speaking.’

‘I’m sorry, Ernest and Elsa are no more.’ Her father said nonchalantly as if he wasn’t talking about them, but rather some strangers.

‘Annalise? Hel…’

She cut the phone call without letting him finish his line.

She couldn’t fathom why was she so surprised, he was always like this. Never once cared about anyone, much less not her.

She dropped her phone on the ground with a solemn look on her face. She jumped into her car, and joined the other racers without even checking if her car was functioning properly or not.

When they were given the signal to start, she drove like a mad dog, she didn’t care who was behind her, she didn’t care who was behind her, she didn’t stop for anything, she didn’t even notice the smoke that was coming out of the front of the car. She cared about nothing, she wasn’t driving to win, but to forget.

Some of the racers stopped since they knew there was something wrong with her and didn’t want to end up like those who tried to caught up to her and ended up trapped inside their cars with fire surrounding them everywhere.

They weren’t the only ones that noticed the sudden change in the way she drives, Adam also did. She was never the one to hurt others in the process of her winning, unlike everyone else she was the only racer that avoided hurting her peers.

However that day Adam had a bad feeling that something was going to happen to her, the way she didn’t stop even after seeing smoke coming from the engine. He knew he had to stop her, but before he could react, a car bumped into hers, sending it rolling causing her until it was off the racetrack and barely recognisable.

Adam rushed to her side along with the paramedics to check on her.

Justine, on the other side, kept on thinking about one thing along the ride. One thing about the ride. One thing kept her distracted from driving and unaware of her surroundings.

Her world just collapsed before her eyes.

She would avenge them, even if it meant selling her soul to the devil? She would continue with the plan despite anything.

Little did she know that she had lost more than just them, she lost her freedom that night too, She lost the ability of doing the only thing that could relieve her stress.

She hit her head so bad that she spent sometime in a coma, and when she woke up and despite being healed of any physical injury the psychological wounds cold never heal.

They said that the body still remembers the pain it went through, so whenever the stress levels are too high it will trigger that psychological trauma which will cause her a pain like none before. Exactly like the one she felt during the accident.

She could no longer race after that day.

END OF FLASHBACKS

Justine was snapped out of her short reverie by the gate opening, she drove in and parked her car in the open garage before heading to the door.

She was glad that Adam would come tomorrow from his business trip because she has no energy to answer anything at the moment. However she was wrong, he was already there waiting for her.

‘One question, Justine, and you will answer honestly.’ He said from the darkness, startling her.

‘Goodness! You scared me!’ She exclaimed, putting her hand on her Heart, as she wasn’t expecting him to be there.

He kept silent waiting for her reply.

‘What is it?’ She answered curtly.

‘Who was he?’ Her heart almost stopped at his question.

‘Who was who?’ She tried to feign ignorance.

‘I’m waiting, Justine.’ He said impatiently.

She sighed. ‘Just someone I know.’

‘You don’t meet just someone you know in the middle of the night in that part of the city secretly, one more time, who is he?’ He gritted.

‘You will stop questioning when I answer?’ She asked tiredly.

Adam nodded.

‘He’s my brother.’

‘Sleep.’ He said before standing up from the chair and heading to the stairs.

‘How did you know?’ She asked before he walked away.

‘I have my ways.’

‘Adam I answered your question you should answer mi…’

‘Goodnight, Justine.’ He said without looking back, leaving her confused and with a million and one question swirling inside her head.