Luelle was very excited to meet Liam's family. She went shopping with Liam to get them some gifts.
'They really don't deserve this much gifts'.
'Come on Liam, it would be rude if I went there empty handed'.
'Nobody would scold you for it'.
'Still, I want to get them some gifts'.
'Do as you wish but don't complain later'.
'I won't'. Just then, Luelle's phone rang, it was Kaelani again.
'She has been calling you quite a lot lately'.
'She's just worried about me, that's all'.
Luelle picked it up.
'Hey gurl! How are you?'.
'Good. What about you?'.
'I'm okay, are you okay now?'.
'Yes Kaelani. You called the other day as well, I was sad at first but I'm good now. I'm shopping right now. Have you started working now?'.
'Yeah, I have started working but I don't have free time like you. I can't go shopping. I miss going to late night clubs'.
'Don't you dare Kaelani! Please, I beg you. The last time you went to a club, you were so out of it and you got me in a lot of trouble'.
'Relax girl. My landlord is a boring person anyways, he won't allow me'.
'My brother in-law has some complaints about you. You've been really stressing him out'.
'It's not my fault he's such a clean freak. He didn't look like one before'.
'You're too much K. What have you been up to?'.
'I'll tell you that later but you tell me first, are you really okay?'.
'Yeah'.
'What are you up to Luelle?'.
'I'm going with Liam to meet his family'.
'You're what?!'.
'Chill K'.
'His family? You've got to be kidding me.
Why would you go there, that house is full of crazy people!'.
'How do you know that? Did Xavier tell you that?'.
'No he didn't. Our maid, Lola worked there remember? She used to tell me all about the Hayes'.
'You can't judge people without knowing them K'
'Yes you can if you've heard all about them'.
'Kaelani, I want to go. I want to know how it feels to live with family'. Kaelani sighed, Luelle was right.
'Alright. But you have to keep me updated every single day or else I'll come there'.
'I will keep you updated K, don't worry about me'.
'Fine, talk to you later. Bye'.
'Bye'.
'That was a long conversation'.
'It's usually like that with the both of us. We're best friends'.
Liam was about to say something but then, RING! RING!
Liam also got a call, it was from the hospital.
'Sorry Luelle, it's an emergency'.
'It's alright, we can go tomorrow'.
'I'm so sorry, I'll see you later'. Liam left and Luelle continued her shopping. While she was picking a bag for Liam's mom, someone bumped into her. The person covered their face with a shawl.
'So sorry'. The person said and Luelle gasped, the voice was very familiar. It was horribly familiar, Luelle immediately got scared, she started fidgeting while looking for her phone. That voice always hunted her and she had wanted to forget it but couldn't. The few months she spent with Liam has made her forget everything. Now, that voice was in front of her and strangely, the person refused to leave. They looked at her strangely.
'Why are you so scared? Did you do something wrong?.'
The person asked her. Luelle was sure that she wasn't hallucinating.
*A stranger wouldn't be asking me all these?.'
'What do you want from me? Who are you?'.
Luelle asked frantically.
'Miss, miss, are you okay?'. Someone gently tapped her.
Luelle turned to look at the person that tapped her but when she turned back to look at the strange person, he was gone.
'Where is the person? Someone was here with me just now'.
'There was nobody here apart from you ma'am'.
'What?'
'Yes ma'am, you were the only one here'.
Luelle was surprised. *Was I hallucinating? No! I definitely saw him. But could I have been mistaken? Maybe I was just imagining things, why would he even be here? Everything is okay, yes. Everything is okay*
Luelle left immediately without completing her shopping.
A person stood by the corner and smiled. He handed some money over to the person who had tapped Luelle and laughed crazily.
'I'm back for you, my Luelle'.
*** THE HAYES MANSION
Scarlett was going crazy when she found out that Xavier had moved to country S.
'This is all your fault Cecilia! You couldn't control your son and now, he has influenced my son. My son won't come back to me'.
'Calm down Scarlett. Your son is no longer a kid. He can make decisions for himself, he's going to run his own company'.
Scarlett was furious. She had always knew that Xavier had no chance at inheriting the family business. After all, her husband was adopted by the old man.
'Father in-law! This is not fair at all. Why does Liam get to do whatever he wants but my son can't even stay with his family? Liam didn't even listen to you when you told him to bring a wife within a week'.
'He already has a girlfriend now Scarlett, don't duel too much on it. Besides, the girl has quit singing right?'.
Scarlett didn't want to listen to what the man had to say anymore, she stormed off angrily. Clara and Mia watched at the side . Clara thought to herself, 'this is about to get interesting.'
***
It was finally the day Liam and Luelle had planned to go to the Hayes mansion.
They were in Liam's car and the drive was a long and quiet one.
Liam felt like Luelle's attitude towards meeting his family changed.
'If you don't want to go, I can make a turn.'
'No, let's go.'
'Why are you so dull?.'
Luelle couldn't tell Liam anything. Everything would be ruined if he knew.
'Nothing, I am just a bit tired from the stress of shopping.'
Just then, a car overtook them. It was so sudden that Liam had to stop, the driver was unapologetic as he drove off but Luelle still saw a part of his face as he passed by the window side.
She was terrified, it was the same guy she met at the mall.
*Could that really be him? Oh no!*.
'That was reckless. One wrong move and we'd both be in the ER.'
Luelle was distracted by what she saw that she didn't know when they got to their destination.
'We're here Luelle.'