Twisting Roses

19: Left Behind

-It was the end of a beautiful illusion-

Shocked, badly hurt and completely tangled, I stared at the giddy couple while hearing my heart completely crush into a pile of shattered pieces. Aliya was furiously mincing words of disgust and jealousy beside me; her hands clenching the window sill tightly, but her voice seemed mute to my soul that was caught in a loud storm created by deep betrayal and intense pain. This is what the ultimate pain and betrayal felt like.

His smile...the way his entire persona beamed as his world cracked a joke...it was excruciating. My nerves felt numb and broken. Too many thoughts...too many fears were jolting my heart. Had Meeran recovered from her amnesia? Was this the reason Demir was being so cold to me? It made sense for him to lose interest in me once his first wife returned. She had been his world...a huge part of his life, he wasn't going to let go of her.

I had been such a fool.

This was my punishment for being so selfish.

Now standing numb with thick tears brimming my ears, the pieces of my broken heart pierced more holes as I watched Demir and Meeran look so happy. That cliché moment...that in-sync happiness...was this what being with your soulmate looked like? Suddenly, I felt like I was the other woman...like my role was only there to distract Demir for some time until Meeran showed up. 

"We can still fix this mess," Aliya turned towards me with dark jealousy and a determined fight echoing in her tone.

"I-I-"

"Meeran's return now means nothing. We can convince him to let go...have him move on," she pulled on my arm, dragging me away from the window. My feet; they felt so light and weightless like I could be pulled into any direction or be forced to face any storm. My senses seemed to have sunk into a sheer feeling of despair.

"You can guilt-trap him," she darkly planned, tightening her grip on my arm, making me look up at her with a hurt, confused and pale expression; my watery eyes round and wide with pain-induced dizziness.

"Wha-"

 "I will drive you home, and then you can berate him for being out so late...forbid him forever going anywhere without you," she conspired, her voice edged hysteria and manic desperation. My skin felt like losing all colours as I slowly nodded.

"Okay," my voice sounded so tiny.

Hastily being dragged all the way to a black McLaren, I winced as Aliya pushed me towards the car's passenger seat door and then moved to sit in the driving seat, her heels clicking loudly against the grey gravel.

It was quiet as Aliya drove me down the empty streets grown cold under the night sky. There were just so many fears clouding both of our hearts. Meeran's arrival was a crushing nightmare we had avoided for so long. I felt further crushed by the simple thought of how Aliya still considered Meeran a bigger competition than me. Her emotions were enough to show how Demir's affection for me was never powerful enough to make her panic. It was his devotion to Meeran. 

Sniffing back tears of intense fear and hurt, I heaved a deep sigh as Aliya finally reached my place-Demir's mansion. 

"Just go inside and wait. Trust me, you got this..." she mused, pushing me out of the car. I gulped in nervousness. 

Outside, the mansion seemed engulfed in sheer darkness. There was silent air quietly rustling the leaves of the gardens, as the mansion gates jolted before me. Suddenly, everything was looking so loud, big...and cold. 

Wrapping arms around myself, I had the guards open the doors for me and stepped inside. The roaring echo of Aliya driving away from me finally allowed me to fully embrace my emotions. I was completely heartbroken. With too many fears and questions brimming my heart, I didn't know what to think or do.