IT HURTS...

The next day...

Raelle woke up early. She had a very short amount of sleep as she found herself unable to sleep even after taking some pills.

Realizing that Liam did not return to the room, she thought that she would check up on him after her shower. It was most likely that he had been busy in the study.

After spending a few days with him, she understood how much he loved his study.

After showering, Raelle was about to go down to Liam's study when her phone began to ring. Seeing that it was Lyra, she did not hesitate to pick the call.

"Lyra, what's up?"

"Are you busy?" Lyra asked, some kind of urgency in her voice. "You need to come to the agency now. Hurty!"

Raelle frowned. She was about to ask what happened when Lyra cut the call.

"What could be wrong?" She whispered, going to change before rushing out of the room.

On her way, she met the butler, Ralph. He was on his way to call her for breakfast.

Seeing her dressed up, Ralph asked, "Madam, are you stepping out?"

Raelle nodded hurriedly. "Yes, Ralph. Please tell my husband that I'll call him once I get to the agency."

Clutching her bag, she ran past him, leaving the man in shock.

'What was wrong with everyone today?' Ralph thought.

First, it was his boss who had ran out in the middle of the night as if he was being chased. Now, it was the wife.

Shaking his head, he simply turned around and began clearing the table again.

***

Raelle reached Limelight Entertainment some minutes later. She paid the cab driver and quickly ran into the building. Taking the elevator, she went straight to the only place she knew she was most likely to find Lyra.

By the time the elevator doors opened, she was not surprised to find Lyra pacing along the hallway.

"Lyra, what happened?" Raelle asked worriedly as she stepped out into the corridor.

Lyra turned around as soon as she heard her friend's voice. She sighed in relief and ran to Raelle. "Thank God you're here!"

"Yeah." Raelle nodded. "You look worried. Why?"

"I am worried, Raelle," Lyra agreed. She held her friend's hand and pulled her down the corridor. "Your sister showed up this morning, requesting to audition for the female lead role but the director refused."

"Claire?" Raelle froze. "Claire came here?" She asked in disbelief.

Lyra nodded. "Hmm. Your father came too."

Raelle paled at the mention of her father. She turned to Lyra as her feet paused on their own. "M-my fa-fa-father?"

"Yes, Raelle." Lyra stopped too. "He offered the director some money in exchange for the position but the director seems defiant. They've been in the director's office for almost an hour now."

Hearing what Lyra said, Raelle jolted back to reality. She scoffed, "Money for a position? That's too much like him."

Turning to Lyra, she smiled and said, "Don't worry about them. They want the lead actress's role so why should I worry? If worse gets worse, I'll just back off and let them be."

"Oh, no you won't!" Lyra glared at her. "Are you out of your mind? You auditioned for this role and got it solely based on your performance. Don't you see it? You're a true born actress. Whereas Claire," she sneered loudly. "Claire's only a spoilt brat with nothing to offer. As for you, you're coming with me to the director's office."

"No!" Raelle refused, shaking her head. "Don't you get it, Lyra? If I go into that office, my father and Claire will do anything to get me out of the movie. Claire might go as far as opting for the second lead actress's role just to get me out."

"I'd just sit this one out as long as they haven't seen me," she added and turned to walk away. "By the way, thanks for calling me Lyra. Let's see tomorrow."

***

All through the ride home, Raelle's mind wandered about. She had gone all the way to the agency but like a chicken scared of the knife, she was now running back home.

Claire wanted to join Limelight entertainment?

Raelle was less pained by Claire's interest in the lead role. What hurt her more was the knowledge that her father was willing to throw money so that she would get the role. But, when her mother had shown interest in acting, he had blatantly killed her dream.

"...don't even think about it, Elena! I will not have you ruin my reputation that I have worked so hard to build because of your stupid flare for acting! If I were you, I will just focus on being a good wife..."

Those were the exact same words he had spat out to her mother when she had told him about her interest in acting.

That day, he not only killed her mother's dream, but also her will and self-esteem. He saw her mother as nothing but a tool in his business climb. And like the good wife he had asked her to be, her mother remained faithful, smiling even though her heart was bleeding.

Her mother was the ideal image of a happy wife when she was out with her father. But away from the prying eyes of the media and her father's fellow businessmen, her mother was dying.

"Ma'am, we've reached." The cab driver's voice slipped into her subconsciousness, disrupting her line of thoughts.

Raelle turned to him and nodded. She paid him, got off and made her way into the compound.

Raelle clutched her purse tighter, fighting back the dark tears in her eyes that wanted to fall. She walked on, one lonely step after the other. Unknown to her, she had almost reached the pillars on the sides of the front door but she kept walking.

She was looking but she could not see...

It hurt...

It hurts so much to see her father giving important to Claire and her mother when all she and her mother ever got was hatred and pain...

Just when she took the last step, her head hit something warm and soft.

Raelle lifted her eyes slowly; she saw a hand. Her eyes trailed the hand and came to stop on a pair of jade eyes, looking at her.

Raelle blinked and it was as if the flood gates of her tears had been opened as they came pouring down like rain.

"Liam...?"