"I'm sorry, Ian," Anne apologized to Ian. She looked at him with remorse in her eyes. She was still feeling guilty.
Ian smiled at her and replied, "Why are you apologizing? I would do what you want because I don't want to see you unhappy. That way, whenever you feel low in life, you will have someone by your side to cheer you. Anyway, it's late and you need to rest. There may be a new press conference waiting for you tomorrow, so go to bed early. After all, my marriage is kind of a big deal too."
"Okay." Anne nodded with a small smile. She said goodnight to Ian and closed the door. Now that she was alone, her feelings were clearly etched on her face. If anyone could see her now, they would know she was fighting an inner turmoil.
Meanwhile in the East Mountain Villa, the atmosphere was equally low.
If anyone would enter the room, they would be hit immediately with the strong smell of whiskey.
The floor was littered with several bottles of different brands of whiskey, in various shapes and sizes. Kevin kept drinking from one bottle after the other. His expression was cold as ice. He didn't even know how many glasses were broken on the ground.
No one came to stop him at the sound of another glass crashing on the ground, because no one was there. Kevin had sent all the people away before he came. He wanted to be absolutely alone and drink the night away.
It was destined to be a long sleepless night.
Hanging on the wall of the East Mountain Villa, was a very small photo. It was very cleverly hidden. Only if one would directly walk to the huge window, would the corner be revealed, where the photo hung. He felt love and peace when he looked at it. His thoughts were full of Anne.
But today, when he saw the photo, he felt ironic.
He cherished that woman, but she always turned a blind eye to his love. He once thought that fate would always keep Anne by his side. But now, he suddenly felt that everything that happened in the past was a huge farce. He insisted that they be together, but she only wanted to escape.
He looked at the photo with contempt and asked, "Are you happy now?" When Kevin was drunk, his face was unreadable. And right now his eyes were filled with mockery. He looked at the photo. Anne was wearing a beautiful dress. She looked so gentle and serene.
However, there was no reply and the question echoed in the empty room.
Back at the hotel, everything was calm. Since Ian had booked the entire hotel for the day and all the guests had left by early evening, the night at the hotel was particularly quiet.
In the still night all the outside sounds were clearly enhanced.
Anne was unable to sleep well. She was tossing and turning. However as soon as she fell into a light doze, she was startled awake by a sound. The sound was coming from outside her room. On hearing the sound, she sat upright in bed and her heart started to beat faster with fright.
She breathed a sigh of relief, when she realized the sounds stopped a bit farther from her door. However, her relief was short lived when it struck her that someone had stopped right outside her door.
Her heart was beating loudly in her ears. She was so nervous that she didn't know how to deal with it. After sometime she finally found the courage to get out of bed and slowly tiptoed towards the door. She was so scared that she could practically taste the metallic taste of fear in her mouth. She peeped through the peephole but couldn't see anyone. She was filled with a sense of foreboding.
Considering that she was all alone, since Ian was not there, she had no choice but to wait for him. She tried to take deep calming breaths to quieten her racing heart. After about an hour, the sounds outside the door receded and everything returned to normal.
Anne strained to hear whether there were anymore sounds coming from the other side of the door. Finally she breathed a sigh of relief. However it was after quite sometime that she was able to fall asleep.
When she finally woke up the next day, the room was still dark. She thought that it was too early and was about to go back to sleep, even though she felt quite rested. Then all of a sudden she realized that the previous night she had drawn the hotel's blackout curtains. She hurriedly got out of bed and ran to open the curtains. She blinked as the room was flooded with sunlight.
Keeping in mind the full day that she had ahead of her, Anne quickly dressed and mentally starting sorting out her day. When she left her room, the hotel was still very quiet. Probably because there was still time for guests to check-in.
As Anne made her way downstairs, she wasn't particularly paying attention and ran directly into Kevin.
"Kevin, why are you here?" she calmly questioned him. She was surprised at how calm she sounded, while inwardly she felt anything but calm. Her feet had faltered when she realized who was blocking her path.
"What? Are you surprised to see me? Do you want to see the baby, Anne?" Kevin sneered.
However, Anne only saw the color of ashes in his eyes.
"How is Eddy? Kevin please let me see him." Thinking that Eddy was still with Kevin, Anne was very anxious, but Kevin's eyes remained cold as ice.
"If you want to see him, then you must adhere to my condition. You must promise me one thing." Kevin's words were like cold steel.
Whenever Kevin thought of Anne being gentle with Ian, he would go crazy with jealousy.
This was the one woman who he couldn't control, but he lost his pride and became an unprincipled person because of her.
"What condition?" Anne said after a brief struggle.
"Leave Ian," Kevin answered seriously. He stared at Anne's face. When he noticed her hesitation, his eyes turned into cold ice.
"Kevin, you've gone too far!" Anne exclaimed.
She knew very well what her situation would become if she left Ian. She would be left with nothing and Kevin knew that. But she was determined not to give in so easily, no matter what was at stake, be it her child or she herself.
"Suit yourself. But if you choose to be with him, you will never see your child again," Kevin said in such a cold tone that Anne was stunned.
However, she immediately said, "I have to see Eddy before I take any decision."
"Sure," Kevin said in an indifferent tone and turned his back on Anne and started to walk out of the hotel. He did not bother to see whether she was following him.
In the East Mountain Villa.
The bottles were put away. All the broken glass was gathered and discarded. The place looked spic and span with fragrance on incense running through the air. The room did not resemble the shambles it was in yesterday.
Anne stood quietly in the middle of the room, taking in everything. Nothing had changed. She had warmth on her face. She just felt ironic.
"Where is Eddy?" questioned Anne.
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