Again «ZM» ✔️

Part Twenty One

Isabelle

   I've completely given up on going back down. I took a shower, so now I'm in front of the mirror in my closet. Taking off my makeup. I barely keep my hands up to my face. My eyes are dead as I look at myself in the mirror. What a lifeless sight.

   My mother barges in and freezes when she sees what I'm doing. But she's not yelling. She's not making me go back down. I finish taking off my makeup and turn to her. Both my arms on my sides, tears well up in my eyes again.

"Isabelle, what's wrong?" she questions. I shake my head and just hug her. That's honestly all I want right now. A hug from my mother. A warm, loving hug. I slowly start to tremble.

"I'm so scared, mum," I whisper. And I'm not lying. I am scared to death that Liam is going to destroy every single thing in my life. That he'll continue to break me piece by piece. "Please, I'm begging you to break the contract with Paynes. I'm terrified of him," I beg her. She just holds me trying to soothe me.

"I'll talk to your father. I'm sure we'll find a solution," she finally answers, "Did Liam hurt you?" she questions. I hesitate to answer, but then I just nod. "Did he hit you again?" she asks again to which I'm scared to answer, but I still nod as tears fall down my cheeks now. "Did he do it again?" she whispers now. That's what breaks me. She knew he had done this before and yet they still signed the contract of us being together.

"Yes," I say in a broken voice. She hugs me tighter, but then lets me go. She looks in my eyes and cups my face. I can finally recognise the worry and the pain in her eyes. It's what I've missed and hoped to see again.

"I'll go talk to your father," she tells me and just leaves. I pray to heavens that he'll agree. He just has to, there's no way I'm staying with Liam.

Zayn

   I look at Lilith with a smile, but then my eyes fall on Violet. Isabelle's mother. She just came back from Isabelle's room. At least that's where I think she went to.

"They've been fighting again. She's out of mood again," Liam tells us, "Her mother told her to change the dress and after she did I went to ask her what happened. Said she didn't want to talk in public so we went to her room. Well, I guess her mother didn't have enough," he glares at her. She gets on the stage. "And because of that she'll come back down and make a scene which will involve hurting me," he frowns and looks at me, "Her mother is trying to pit her against me," he explains. But it's weird considering the fact that her mother is the one who signed the contract. I look at Violet. She's on the stage, testing the microphone with her hand. Trying to get everyone's attention.

"Hello. Welcome to our annual Christmas party, I hope everyone here is doing great tonight!" she greets everyone, "I am sorry to announce that my daughter, Isabelle, isn't feeling well tonight and she won't be able to join us anymore which means the necklace that she was supposed to display will be displayed here," she points at something. She's ditching?

"A scene, huh?" I chuckle. Liam looks at me and shrugs. I look at her mother again. She's looking at us. "I'll go check up on her," I quietly say and get up. Liam frowns.

"Don't. I'm sure she's fine. She just threw a tantrum," he tries to stop me. It confuses me. Why would he try to stop me from just checking up on her? He knows well that she opens up to me easier than him.

"It doesn't matter, Liam. Maybe I can get her to calm down and come down," I answer before I leave the room. Her house is huge, so I feel already lost. I make my way upstairs. I frown when I don't remember where to go. I look to the left and then to the right. Which side was hers?

"May I help you with something?" I hear someone ask. I turn around and I'm greeted by their butler. I nod. Thank god he's here. It would've been weird if I had to look through every single room here.

"Yes, may I know where is Isabelle's room? I seem to have forgotten," I ask. He frowns and begins to walk to the right side. I follow him. His pace is fast and he doesn't look too happy.

"Be careful though, miss Miller is having a hard time right now. She might get rough," he warns me, "It's just the way she gets when something happens. That poor girl. I remember her like this only when she was just broken up with Liam," he mentions. I frown. He stops at one of the doors. I knock and open the door. She's not here. I walk in and close the door behind me. Maybe she's in the closet? Or the bathroom? I walk to the closet. And there she is. She's on the ground, against the wall. Crying. Only in a towel. I make my way over to her slowly.

"Isa, hey..." I whisper. She doesn't even look at me. Is it really Violet who hurt her like that? I'm not too sure that she could've done this... Especially after what the butler told me. She must've had an argument with Liam, a bad one.

"What did Liam tell you the night when I told you me and Liam are back together?" she asks in a cold tone, her voice so raw and shaky. Well, she surely isn't in the best mood, but maybe it's really something that bothers her. "And be honest. What did he say and why did you agree to be only my friend?" she adds to her question. I close the closet door and slowly walk a little more closer to her. I sit next to her, but not that close so that I wouldn't be in her personal space. She even sits a bit further.

"He called me. Said that you two have agreed to be together because his mother needs some money and by being together she could re-earn what she lost after someone sued one of their companies," I tell her what he told me, "The next day, after the ball he told me that it would be better for us to be only friends, because you didn't want me to get hurt. Because your mother would eventually break us up," I look at the huge collection of shoes that she has. I can hear her sniff. I look at her. She has all her makeup taken off. "What happened?" I ask, "Liam said you got in a fight with your mum," I add. That makes her look at me. She shakes her head. So it was a lie then? She didn't get into a fight with her mother?

"I never got in a fight with her. It's him who I got in a fight with," she whispers, "And I don't understand, he broke up with me or not?" she frowns and drops her head between her knees, holding her legs with her arms. I have no idea what to do now. Liam lied. Or she's lying. "I begged my mum to let me break up with him, but all she could do was say that she'll talk to my father. And I know him, he won't allow it," she says through sobs that break out of her.

"What were you two arguing about? If it's not anything super personal," I ask her out of curiosity. It only makes her cry harder. I can see her holding herself tighter. "It's okay, Isa, you don't have to tell me," I whisper to her hoping that she doesn't feel forced, "Can I hug you though?" I ask for her permission. She doesn't answer, but she weakens her grip and shows me her palm. Reaches out for me. I get closer to her and pull her against me. She lets me do it. I then hold her while she cries in my embrace. Liam hurt her and I don't think it's just a simple argument.