Chapter 18

Anya woke up with a headache. She took the small mirror from her drawer and looked at her face. Her eyes were swollen, and her cheek was slightly bruised. She got up to take a bath, and she hoped that her headache would go away. Afterward, she went downstairs to eat.

She found Glaiza eating in the kitchen.

"Anya, are you feeling okay? Your clothes were wet last night when Sir carried you. Did something happen?"

"I'm fine, just a bit of a headache and my cheek hurts."

"No, you're not fine. You sound different, like you're sick."

"Where's the driver?"

"Greg? He didn't come home last night and still hasn't. But Austine is back with the car Greg drove." Anya nodded slowly.

Christian probably didn't know that Sapphire and Natasha were responsible for what happened to her. And who was she to Christian, anyway? Even if he found out, he probably wouldn't care.

"What happened, Anya? Sir rushed out last night when he found out you were gone. And why is your cheek bruised, and you have wounds on your lip and neck?"

"It's nothing, my tooth just hurts, that's why my cheek is swollen, And also I bit my lip, that's why it's wounded." Anya told Glaiza.

"Ah, that can be painful. You should get a check-up or have the tooth extracted."

"Next time," Anya said with a forced smile.

******

Anya went inside her room and grabbed her phone. She visited the website of the organization that made information publicly available.

"Natasha Alonzo, that's it! You'll pay for this!" She fixed herself up before leaving.

She looked for Glaiza to say that she would leave. Glaiza needs to know that she leaves or else Oliver might start looking for her if he get home.

Before leaving, she called her close friend Sabrina. She knew Sabrina was sulking because Anya hadn't been in touch for over a month.

"Do you still remember me?" Sabrina said as soon as she answered the call.

"Of course, sorry about that. The signal here is really bad. I'll tell you everything later, can we meet up?"

"Sure, bestie."

**********

"So, that's what happened?" Sabrina asked after Anya told her everything that had happened.

"What? All of that happened to you in just one month? Meanwhile, my life is super boring, just the same old routine."

"Did Adrian call you?"

"Adrian? Does he even know us anymore?" Anya fell silent for a moment after hearing Sabrina's response.

It seemed Adrian hadn't contacted Sabrina, so she didn't know he was returning to the Philippines, or maybe he was already back. Anya decided not to mention that Adrian had called her, fearing Sabrina might get even more upset.

"So, how are you going to get back at those two witches?"

"Of course, I'll make it the most memorable day of their lives." Anya had read Natasha's invitation card and found out her birthday party was next week. She would make sure to ruin it. But first, she needed Sabrina's help.

"Okay, got it, don't let those witches get to you. Just call me if you need me, okay?" Anya shared her plan with Sabrina, including her revenge on Natasha and Sapphire on the latter's birthday.

"Deal?" Anya asked after sharing her plan.

"Of course, I want to see their faces too. I'm so excited!" Sabrina exclaimed.

"I should head home, they might be looking for me since I left a while ago," Anya said goodbye. Sabrina suddenly looked sad.

"Why do you look so down? We'll see each other again at Natasha's birthday," Anya said with a laugh.

"That's too long duh! Her birthday is next week," Sabrina pouted.

"The days will pass quickly, so don't be sad. Don't you have any other tasks?"

"I do, but I've already finished them. I'll send you the details later. Goodbye Anya, see you next week."

**********

ANYA POINT OF VIEW

As I entered the gate of our house, I was surprised to see Christian's car already there. I felt nervous as I walked towards the house. I thought he would be coming home late, so I double-checked my phone for the time. I even searched Google to confirm. It was only 1 o'clock. I hoped he wouldn't be in the living room so I could quickly go upstairs without seeing him. But then I remembered that his room was also upstairs, right across from mine.

I was embarrassed about what happened last night, so I was avoiding him today. I remembered that my snot had stained his clothes because I was crying so much. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that he wasn't in the living room. I quickly climbed the stairs, but I stopped when I reached the second floor. Christian was standing there, as if he had seen me coming or had been waiting for me.

"Where have you been?" he asked seriously.

"I-I was just at my friend's place. We haven't seen each other in a long time." I swallowed hard as he approached me and examined my face closely. His gaze even dropped to my lip.

I felt like I was frozen in place when he touched the edge of my lip. I didn't want to step back either, especially since I would fall down the stairs.

"Do you have any other injuries besides this one? Is there any other part of your body that hurts?" My heart beat faster at his question. His voice was also soft, and it was clear that he was genuinely concerned.

"N-no, that's all." I quickly thought of a different topic to avoid the awkwardness. "By the way, did you fire Greg?" I knew he didn't want me to end up in that situation.

He didn't answer my question, and it seemed like he was waiting for me to say something else.

"He didn't do anything wrong, he was just caught up in the situation," I said to him.

"Oh right," he said before nodding.

"Just rest for now." He was heading down the stairs when I asked him again.

"Do you have somewhere to go?" I asked, and he stopped and looked at me.

"Yeah, why?" I wanted to tell him not to leave and that I wanted to get to know him better. Not because I liked him or anything, but because I wanted to know more about his life.

I also needed to know his favorite numbers or something so I could unlock the door to his room.

"No, just go home early and I'll wait for you." After saying that, I quickly turned around, hastened my pace, and entered my room. Because I felt embarrassed - that was the first time I had say something like that.