LYDIA.

Lydia didn't panic, that was her gift.

While everyone else collapse loudly,she learned early on how to fall inward.

She allow the damage to sharpen her, instead of taking over her emotions.

She excused herself from the summit,with a smile still intact. One nobody could tell or ever suspect something is going on within her. Well that was her profession.

In the bathroom, under golden lights, she slammed the door and press the locked button.

Then she leaned against a marble sink, and vented her frustration, she allowed the rage to crawl up her throat. She hate being seen as a liability, instead she rather cried in a close doors than being caught unfresh.

" Leila". She called angrily " that name Keeps frustrating me everywhere. But don't worry I will make you disappear again, a strategic partner?, if I won before why can't I win again". She said as she laugh softly.

" Oh I get it" she whispers to her reflection. "You always get rescued by love, and you did love men who rescue you, hmmm then let's see if he will still love you after this" she added as she pulled out her phone.

One message.

TO UNKNOWN NUMBER: change of plan, let's go back to the old target, she's been detected, let's make her popular.

The reply came instantly.

UNKNOWN NUMBER: finally, I almost get bored. Just say the word, and I promise to deliver without traces.

***

LEILA

I felt it, before I could even understood it.

The shift from people. They worship the money not the person. And memories flash back.

There was a time, when I was a mere shadow but now because of power and influence, am being honour as a princess, life they say is unpredictable.

Power never attack directly, instead it arranges the ground beneath the feet's and waits.

AIDEN hands slipped off my back as investors swarmed over him.

I stood alone for the first time in a crowd full of elites and am being claimed as one of them, not the usual errand girl.

I wasn't trembling rather was full of confidence and unquestionably audacity.

Eyes everywhere.

Some where curious.

Some impressed while some calculating.

" You did well", a woman said softly beside me.

I turned.

A tall fair elegant, blond hair pulled back sharply, her smile was polite, and unreadable.

" I'm mara voss", she said "board advisor".

I smiled back innocently, something in her gaze lingered too long.

Like she was measuring the cost of me.

" Enjoy the night" she added, already walking away. " They don't last".

I swallowed deep, and then left speechless. That cut in deep as a blade, piercing through my skin.

***

By midnight Lydia was back in her penthouse, heels discarded, phone pressed on her ear.

" Release the files", she said calmly.

On the other end, a man hesitated. " Those records are..old",.

She step in "old truths age best". She walked to the window, city lights reflecting in her eyes.

" Make it anonymous, make it believable, make it real. Leila Jones, enjoy the spotlight since you love it so much". She added victoriously.

A pause.

"Lydia", the man called out to her.

" If the frost family traces this back_".

She smiled, and then smirked.

" He won't" she said "he's too busy protecting her".

That was the mistake men like Aiden always made. They assumed things and believes money made them powerful rather it made them predictable.

***

The first headline hit at 2:17am.

BREAKING NEWS: QUESTION RISE OVER FROST'S NEW STRATEGY PARTNER.

I stared at my phone.

My stomach dropped.

Another notification, followed by another.

UNVERIFIED SOURCES CLAIMED LEILA JONES WAS DISMISSED FROM PREVIOUS FIRMS DUE TO ETHICAL CONCERNS.

Is frost enterprises risking it's legacy?

Alot of nasty comment follows.

My chest tightened

"This isn't true". I whispers in pain.

Aiden was already moving, phone to ear, voice low and lethal.

" Shut it down, bring down the news".

But damage didn't wait for permission.

I scrolled.

A photo of me, a year ago, crying outside my family home surfaces.

Captioned: A woman known for instability.

My hands shook.

" She found you", Aiden said calmly behind me.

I looked up.

"NO", I answered, " she remembered me".

***

Lydia watched the trends unfolds from her couch, silk rope wrapped around her like a crown.

" Since she loves to be on the spotlight so bad, I believe she love this so much". She laugh as she take a sip of champagne from her glass.

UNKNOWN NUMBER: the news is trending, doubt are spreading, fingers are bring point out, but Lydia don't forget, she's not destroyed, it's just DESTABILIZED.

She read it with satisfaction then with another counterattack mindset.

" Well Leila, that was step one, get ready for what's coming next" she lit up a smile.

Then typed on her phone.

This time the reply took longer then

UNKNOWN NUMBER: you sure about this ?, he won't forgive you.

Lydia replied, he doesn't need to.

She stood up, walking towards a framed photo on the wall.

Her

Leila and their father childhood picture.

She looked at it in disgust.

" She always wanted to belong", Lydia murmured " unfortunately we can't go back to those days, we were too young and naive then, we believe family meant safety. Well I will remind you what it costs to belong now". She added as she walk away.

****

Leila phone buzzed again.

This time not headline but a message from an unknown number.

Ask Aiden frost what your mother really signed with him, that night she died.....

LEILA.

My mother used to say, that silence was safer than lies.

Now I wondered, if she had buried me alive with it.

The message kept replaying on my head as the car moved through the sleeping city.

Ask Aiden frost what your mother really signed away the night she died.

I didn't speak, neither was Aiden.

The car was quite as a graveyard, the abandoned one precisely.

That wasn't worse enough. The worst was the

Silence between us, it felt renew and this time it was more dangerous than ever.

***

When we reached the villa, I went straight to the study room,the only one room that still smelled like control.

He followed behind, more like he knows things were not right.

I turned to face him.

" What did she signed?" I asked in curiosity.

He loosen his tie slowly.

Too slow, that I could see through the hesitation in his action.

"Leila_" he stutter.

"No", I cut in sharply In a rage.

" Don't soften it, don't protect me , don't sugar coat it, just say the damn truth, answer the question Aiden".

His jaw tightened, I could feel how scared he was to say a thing, but I wasn't ready to give in either.

Then finally he spoke,

" She signed a safeguard agreement".

"That's not an answer to the question I asked" I snapped at him.

He exhale and continued .

" Your mother believed your family would destroy you if you stayed, so she asked me to protect you from them".

" So she handed me over to you?" I asked.

"No" he replied sharply.

" She protected you from them" He added.

I laughed out in a thin and brittle tone.

" By tying my life to a man I didn't even know?".

He stepped closer,"she trusted me Leila".

" Well that was her mistake, she made a decision I never approved of, I was never asked if am willing to follow, was my feelings meant nothing to anyone?" I cried out angrily.

The words landed between us like broken glasses.

The silent in the room make it more deadly.

***

With a cracked on the drawer

Aiden pulled out a slim file, with a mix of hesitation.

" This was never meant for you to see like this, but at this point I can't help than just to prove it to you with evidence" he said.

I took it away without a word, inside were documents. Old, heavy but legal with language meant to confused.

One clause stood out.

_in the event of my death, guardianship and financial trusteeship of Leila Jones shall be temporary transfered to Aiden frost, until her twenty_ fifth birthday _.

My hands glued on the paper tight, my claws almost torn it apart, the rage in me was double as I asked furiously.

" You owned my future?.

"No, I kept it for you Leila, I protected it". He answered.

I look up sharply.

" No you didn't protect it, you controlled it, all this year's, you watch me suffer Aiden".

The room went silent.

That alone was an answer to my unanswered questions.

" So every job" I said slowly "every opportunity I lost or gained_".

"I intervened only when you were in danger" he cut in directly.

"Well that was me at the edge of loosing my life, when I finally choose to accept my fate as a loser in life" I shoot back .

His eye darkened with disappoinment.

"That's not fair".

I smirked.

" Neither was my life Aiden, you make me believe you were a God sent, you could've atleast told me everything, not letting me find out myself. Beside why choose to be on my future?"

***

LYDIA.

Lydia sipped her tea calmly as she watched the cracks form.

Distance made distraction elegant.

Her phone buzzed.

UNKNOWN NUMBER: she's unraveling, bet he didn't see this coming this soon.

Lydia smiled.

"I think am loving this already, how I wish I could see the disappointment in her face right now". She chuckle in satisfaction.

"Well I think confusion is more lethal than truth". She added.

She typed back.

Lydia:send the second file out, don't forget to bring out the reality in it.

A pause, maybe that was a little simpathy, who knows!!

A response from UNKNOWN NUMBER buzzed in .

Lydia smiled widened.

" Exactly how I want it to be".

***

That night sleep refused me, moments I'd ignore.

Aiden showing up at the right time.

Opportunity flogging in suddenly, danger disappearing even before it reaches.

The familiarity on our first meet.

All of this makes sense now.

Have I been living, or being managed?

A question I never get an answer to.

At 3:12am, my phone buzzed again, another message. New file.

Subject: final draft, still from na unknown.

I opened it .

I felt my breath leaving my nostrils.

A familiar handwriting, my mother's.

_ if you are reading this, it means I failed to protect you they way I intended.

Tears blurred my vision.

Then it continue, I trusted Aiden frost because he promised you safety not ownership.

But powerful men don't separate the two.

If he ever make you feel small,controlled or indebted, run from him_.

I dropped the phone.

"My mother knowns everything, she had known this would happen" I cried silently.

***

By morning, I hallowed out.

Aiden found me in the terrace, wrapped in a blanket, starring at nothing.

" You should have told me" I said without looking at him.

" I was waiting until you were strong enough " he replied.

" And who decides when that was?" I asked again.

He didn't answer.

That hurt more than a lie.

" I won't be owned" I said " not by my family, not by Lydia, and not even by you".

" Then what do you want?"he asked, this time his voice was low and comforting, but that wasn't what I want or asked for at that moment.

I stood already dress up, he saw the determine spirit in me.

"I want the truth" I said " all of it Aiden".

I met his gaze, steady and sharp.

" If the truth destroy us, then we weren't built on anything real, some guardianship are just like a prisoner with a bitter memories and views, it's an eyesore"....

LEILA

They expected me to hide, but I was done hiding, this time, I was ready to bloom on my own, Just me, and for me now.

By noon, frost enterprises boardroom was filled up with lawyers, advisor's, people who spoke in phrase instead of words. They thought today would be damage control, but my elegantly self says different.

I walked in alone.

No Aiden by my side.

Just me ready to sail.

That alone unsettle them more than my presence ever could.

"I'll be brief", I said while placing a tablet on the table." Panic they say thrives on confusion and I don't intend given it a room".

Murmurs erupt.

Mara voss stiffened.

I tapped on the screen with a determined spirit.

Then I added.

" My mother's agreement has been misinterpreted". I continued calm and focused.

"Not by frost enterprises but by parties who stood to gain from my instability".

A pause in the room, silent follows, then murmuring.

Everyone seems to be dissatisfied with my presence, but mara seems to showed a sign of satisfaction.

I didn't care whatever they think or have to say.All I wanted was to be heard.

Then I slid the real weapon across the table .

"Here are the amendments she filed two weeks before her health".

Their faces leaned forward ready to see what was inside , I didn't wait to get asked, I shot directly.

"She revoked guardianship". I said "conditionally".

A lawyer frownd " condition on what?"

I smiled then whispers to myself.

Whosever this unknown person is, must really want to see me thrive in success.well am glad he/she always gives me a way out.

"On proof that Aiden frost would never make decisions for me without my consent" I replied.

The room went silent

"And since I never get consented" I continued,

" Any authority assumed beyond financial protection is legally void, and even in finances aspect its only when needed".

Mara's pen dropped.

The boardroom seems to be under my control, I choose to control it because, I never intended being owned or managed by some organization.

"I'm not here to accuse anyone" I said softly.

" Rather am here to clarify everything".

I looked directly at the camera at the edge of the room. This time even steadier.

"And also to inform the board that I am not controlled, that I am competent".

I stood, ready to walk away, I victoriously concluded it amazingly with a request.

"Any further questions can be directed to my counsel_ my counsel I said not Aiden's". I added while walking out elegantly.

***

AIDEN

This was not how it supposed to happen.

I watched from the private office, just as the screen muted, my heart pound like it was trying to escape my ribs.

Leila didn't flinch or looked at me for once.

Not for approval.

Not for reassurance.

Not even for a rescue.

She didn't need me.

And that_ that alone terrified me.

I had built my life on control because chaos once destroyed everything I ever loved.

"I told myself I was protecting her, but watching her now, I realized something brutal, and I persive the determination in her".

" Protecting had become possession".

"And possession had nearly cost me her".

When the board meeting ended, I didn't move.

The office felt too large, and too quite.

I kept replaying her voice in my head.

It was steady, measured, determined and unafraid.

She had rewritten the narration without me, how I wish she knew that there's so much to it than it seems.

I pressed my hands to the desk breathing shallowly.

For the first in years, I feel my chest in so much pain, panics and in unmanaged state.

I had once sworn never to feel this again, not after learning love could be leverage and yet _ here it was.

The woman I built walls around had learned how to Walk through them without me.

"You were suppose to need me" I whispered to the empty room.

That wasn't love, that was fear disguised as devotion.

My phone rang, I thought she finally came around and wants to talk things out, well my last hope was shattered again. It was mara voss.

" She outplayed us all" she said, "you've taught her so well" she added.

"No" I replied gently. " I underestimated her, her intelligent and her power" I added shakenly.

Well i deserve everything that happens.

***

I left the building without looking back.

The city felt different when it wasn't pressing down on me.

My phone buzzed.

UNKNOWN NUMBER: Lydia won't stay put on this, watched your back.

I smiled faintly, then a type on my phone.

_am counting on it _

Because now, I know she would move recklessly.

And reckless people revealed everything.

This time I want to see what you've got Lydia.

......