WORRIED ABOUT THE DEVIL

"Zen! Hurry up! We gotta go... Lily has sent a message. Vilian's gone to the park," Mia ran to the car, dragging Zen with her.

She had been trying to reach Vilian's phone since the party night, but the call was being declined by Vilian every time she tried. It was frustrating for her. The person Vilian introduced as a stalker to her turned out to be her soon-to-be fiance. How confusing is it? Mia could not understand any of it.

Just what was happening?

She had contacted Lily, but it was of no use. The maid didn't speak of it clearly. So she thought of meeting Vilian at the park. 'That would be the perfect timing, thought Mia, and she had pleaded with Lily to inform her when Vilian would leave for her workout.

As soon as Zen reached the destination, Mia didn't wait for him. She dashed out of the car, panicking Zen, and ran toward the spot where they usually meet each other.

Tilting the phone up and down nervously, she waited for Vilian to come.

"What's taking her so long?" mumbled Mia. Zen came and stood behind her. She said nothing but dragged him to the car and told him to drop her park.

"Zen, why don't you come and take a seat beside me?"

"I'm fine miss," he said and got a pointed look from Mia. Zen raised his hands and agreed, not wanting to argue. A small smile graced his lips as he sat beside her.

"Is Vilian really gonna get married?" he questioned.

"Vilian?"

"Yes, weren't you the one to tell me about it the other day?" he questioned confusedly.

"So, you call her by her name? When have you planned to shift addressing me formally, or have you not?" She asked annoyingly.

"I- you know... I'm your guard, and I'm not supposed to form any type of relationship with the person who I work for," said Zen as he smiled sheepishly. Mia fumed and turned to the other side angrily.

"Oh, there she comes..." said Mia as soon as she spotted Vilian jogging from afar. She didn't wait for her to come, so she ran toward her. Zen interfere and waited for them.

"Mia?"Vilian stopped jogging and looked at her dully as she removed her AirPods.

"Can we talk?"

Vilian gazed at her watch. It was seven-thirty. Which means she has an hour, so she nodded her head. They walked toward a nearby bench a little away from Zen and took a seat.

"What is it?"

"What do you mean what is it? You're driving me crazy. Why didn't you tell me that you were getting engaged to the person you called a stalker? Not to say that you've started to ignore me?" questioned Mia, angrily. Apart from being angry, she was worried. She questioned the latter with a panging heart.

Vilian thought for a while but didn't respond to her. She took the bottle from her fanny pack and drank the water.

Mia stood up and came to stand in front of her. "Are you not gonna tell me anything? What have I done? Why would you not answer my calls? Why do you keep declining my calls?" questioned Mia with her teary eyes.

Vilian felt bad to see her in such a state, but she, herself was in a tight position to think of anything. She avoided Mia's eye contact.

"Vili...? Please... say something..." she nudged her as she held her hand pleadingly. "It's been three days since we've spoken. What happened?" She questioned. A lone tear slid down her cheek. "Please don't be silent..."

'You're not gonna utter a word about this to anyone, you get it? Not even your so-called best friend' her father's threats rang in her mind. 'If you say so, I will have no choice but to send you off from here. This alliance means everything to me and my wife, so act according to it.'

Sighing out she spoke, "Actually, I wasn't sure about the engagement with him so I didn't want to break the news before I confirmed it. But then, you saw it all, fath-he announced it," She said, faking a smile that Mia could not see through. "It was a sudden thing so I had to go through it. The Fenans have come to stay for a few days." Vilian said as she gazed front at the sea.

The seagulls were flying above the water, making the choking call confronting their territory. It bought a smile to Vilian's face. "I'm sorry for not reaching you or letting you know about it earlier, Mia," she apologized as she patted the place beside her, holding Mia's hand.

"That's fine..." said Mia squeezing Vilian's hand lightly with a smile. "-but are you satisfied with this decision?"

"Hmm... Yeah... He seems to be good. I mistook him at my first impression," she lied straightly, gazing at her.

'I'm sorry, Mi. I have to do this. But I promise you that I'll make sure to explain it in detail when the time comes,' swore Vilian in her heart as she smiled at Mia, "In fact, I must tell you, Eric's a complete gentleman, unlike some cold jerk," she muttered the latter to herself.

"Eric? Is it his name?" she asked . 'why does it sound familiar,' thought Mia.

"Yes. Eric Fenan," Vilian said absentmindedly.

"He isn't the same famous basketball player from our high school, is he? The one who happened to disappear all of a sudden?" questioned Mia, curiously.

"Exactly," replied Vilian boringly.

"Woah! Now I know the reason why I felt the familiarization!" she exclaimed overwhelmingly. "This is super awesome, yuh know... Girl! you're really lucky to be tied up with a handsome guy like him," she said dreamily.

"That's enough, Mia. I must reach home before breakfast. Fifteen minutes left," She said as she glanced down at her watch and stood up. Placing the bottle back into her fanny pack, she started marching toward the exit.

"No worries... we'll drop you there," said Mia, running behind Vilian and gesturing to Zen to start the car. Zen ran toward the car and started the engine while Mia and Vilian got into the vehicle.

The ride was full of Mia's non-stop talks. She made silly jokes and whined about her brother, causing Zen and Vilian to laugh.

As the ride came to an end, Vilian opened the door. But Mia stopped her. Vilian glanced back at Mia.

"Vili.." called Mia as she glanced at her and continued, "Please don't ignore me..." she muttered, "No matter what..." she whispered the latter pleadingly.

Vilian nodded her head and gave a reassuring smile.

Mia leaned forward and kissed her cheeks with a big tight hug. "Now that you've got a fiance, I'm not forbidden to kiss those cute cheeks, am I?" she questioned, acting cutely.

"As if you won't," muttered Vilian smirking at her. Mia winked at her, giving loads of flying kisses. Vilian whispered thanks as she got off the car, waving them goodbye.

A long sigh left her lips as she walked in through the back door in a daze. It was true that Eric was famous for his basketball skills and handsome athlete body. Girls would drool at his sight. Back then, Vilian was pretty much happy capturing his heart. Girls were envious of her. They'd ignore her for that sole reason. But she would pay no heed to them, for she was so in love with him that she cherished it with all her might, no matter what the circumstances were.

Though Mia was studying at Greenville high school just like Vilian and was her age, they were in separate buildings. The school had a procedure of dividing the students into five houses. Each house had its separate buildings for every need. It was more like five big teams.

While Vilian was an Angelot, Mia was a Chamimoux, the opposite building of hers, but their studies didn't vary. Therefore, she had no issues studying with her. The only difference was their subject timing.

The very thing was a great advantage for Vilian to cover up her love life as the school had a strict rule on not sharing any information from team to team. No matter what, they've been restricted to share. Still, some would gossip secretly. Her relationship did spread to half of her teammates but luckily it subsided within a few days of the absence of Eric. He had gone disappeared the very next day after he raped her.

Some blamed the reason behind the famous basketballer's disappearance was Vilian, for she too attended school very seldom.

Mia who knew nothing of it tried her best on improving their friendship while Vilian preferred things to be the way it was. The two years had just passed by with no trouble.

The only thing she was worried about was the devil. She didn't want Astrel to smell the lie she had confessed to him.

Passing by the kitchen maids who paid no heed of her presence she stopped abruptly being blocked by her stepmother who stood like a wall crossing her hands over her chest. She glared at her coldly.