Chapter - 01

Alisha POV

People think my life is perfect. Born with a golden spoon, having a loving family, born with beauty. But is it really perfect? My answer is no. All the people around me are fake. They try to impress me because of my father.

Having nightmares and waking up in cold sweat every single night is worse. Yes, my family loves me a lot, but they are overprotective to the point that it suffocates me. I know why they are like that, but it only makes me feel pathetic. I have trust issues thanks to some idiots in my high school.

Money is good. You can have anything you want, but again you can only do nothing with it. Everyone approaches me with ulterior motives. I was naive at one point, but not anymore. I can see their dirty intentions in their eyes.

I got my mom's beautiful long shiny dark wavy brown hair, creamy skin, and my dad's forest green eyes, and I have an elegant bone structure. I'm too pretty, I know that too. But sometimes, I wish I wasn't. Because for me, it's not a blessing but a curse.

Why am I suddenly remembering all this? It's because of the romance book I'm reading. The female lead has the same problem as me "Nightmares". But she is lucky because she forget her memories.

While I ended up being the unlucky one, as I remember every single detail of that day. My nightmares started after that incident. The nightmares that I see every time I close my eyes are horrible.

Memories that I want badly to forget to hunt me every night. As people say, the more you try to forget and fear something, the more it consumes you. My parents hired many therapists, but it was a futile attempt because nothing helped.

Instead, with each passing day, it started to become worse. I should stop thinking about it. Seeing those memories at night is enough.

I looked at my watch. It's been one hour since I've been in this cafe. It's lunchtime and the cafe is packed with New York's busy people. Freshly baked desserts and coffee aromas filled the cafe.

I'm meeting my best friend here. Who claimed that she would be here in five minutes but still hasn't shown her face. Well, I guess in her timeline it still hasn't been five minutes. Am I being stood up? I better not, or she will be dead.

I took the cup of hot chocolate filled with marshmallows, and bring it to my plump pink lips, and took a sip from it. Sweetness burst into my mouth, and I refrained myself from moaning out loud. I love chocolate. I love everything that is made with chocolate.

I already finished three cups of hot chocolate. This is my fourth cup.

The bell rang at the front door indicating someone had entered. I looked in that direction to find my best friend walking in like a model.

The men in the cafe stared at her with their mouth open. I'm sure soon flies will dance in their mouths. Some of them are even drooling.

Jennifer Morelli is a beautiful and elegant woman. Pale skin, light blue eyes, and long hair falling a few inches down her waist. Her hair is like brown silky threads that suit her perfectly beautiful face. Her sharp nose intimates her features and her plump pinkish juicy lips that arise, the deeply buried cravings of all men.

She has the same height as me, five feet five inches, perfect for every man. She has the body of an angel, which is worshipped by many. She is twenty-one years old. One year older than me. She took a seat in front of me and gave me her toothy smile.

"Thank you for enlightening me with your presence, your highness," I said with sarcasm.

"I apologize for the lateness, Your Majesty," she said, giving me her puppy eyes. I will not fall for it.

"Explain," I said, glaring at her.

"I met a dog on my way here," she said, huffing.

"What dog?" I frowned.

"My cheater ex-boyfriend." she muttered, exhausted.

"How did you meet him? What did he do?" I exclaimed.

Her ex-boyfriend is a jerk. How can someone cheat on my best friend when she is this hot? That bastard doesn't have eyes. Moreover, he is a piece of trash. I know that the moment I met him, but my stupid friend was blind in love. No matter what I told her, she didn't take it seriously.

Until she caught him with another girl. Whenever I remember what he did, it makes me want to chop off his little member and choke him. I hate cheaters. I know how it feels to be cheated on.

"The same drama. He wants me to give him another chance," she said while tracing some patterns on the table.

"So, are you going to give him another chance?" She had better not.

"Hell no, once a cheater is always a cheater."

"Good that you know," I said, taking a sip of my hot chocolate.

"Anyway, I don't want to talk about him. Wait a minute, I will go and place my order," she said, standing up and I nodded.

She went to the counter, and I started to read my novel. I brought it before coming here, and I had already finished half of it. I readed one more page, and she came back.

I closed the book and concentrated on her. The waiter brought her order. I'm a sweet lover while she is not. She took a sip of her latte and started talking about her life drama. That's what we always do. She is a talkative person. So, she talks, and I listen.

"There is one friend of mine who likes you and wants to meet you. What do you say? Should I fix a date?" she asked softly.

"No," I said plainly.

"Whyyyyyyyyyyy?" she whined.

"You know why?"

"Not all men are the same. Give him a chance, please," she said, holding my hand.

"I know all men are not the same, but I can't help but feel paranoid," I said.

We sure are best friends. We both got cheated on by our boyfriends. But at least her boyfriend cheated on her with another woman. But mine, my boyfriend cheated on me with my friend.

We used to be a group of three, me, Jennifer, and Jules. We met each other in middle school and became friends. When we were in high school, I had a crush on a classmate. Later I confessed to him, and he accepted.

We dated for two years. We were the best couple in school. But in my final year, I found my dear boyfriend and my friend in each other arms talking shit about me. They were insulting me. But that wasn't enough for them. They were talking about how stupid I was and how they were only using me for money.

I felt betrayed and was so shocked and hurt to the point that the only thing I was doing was standing there and crying miserably. Pathetic. Jenny was so angry that she made a video of them, then released it on the school form. My family got to know about that and made them expelled. From that on, I stopped trusting anyone.

"Please, at least try. For me—"

Jenny suddenly stopped talking and looked at the cafe TV with her utmost importance. Not only her, but everyone's attention is on the TV too.

"What happened?" I asked, frowning.

"Alexander Moretti," she said, making me roll my eyes.

On the cafe's TV, the news is telling about another success of Alexander Moretti. He is the number one richest bachelor man in New York. People sipped over him. Man or woman, everyone throws themselves at him. I just only heard about him on the news but never bothered to search for him on the Internet. I haven't even seen his picture. People say he is hot as hell.

Who cares, my fictional men are the hottest. There are rumours that he is in the mafia. Since whoever tried to compete with him disappeared. Anyway, it's just some rumours. People like to exaggerate things.

"Every girl's dream man is him," she said, dreamingly.

"If you are done daydreaming about him too, shall we leave? My mom is calling."

Mom is calling me none stop. Come on, it's only been three hours.

"Sometimes I don't understand your family,"

"Me neither," I said while sending my mom a text informing her that I will be home soon.

We took our belongings and were ready to leave. But when I stand up, I start having trouble breathing. I'm feeling dizzy, and my heart is beating irregularly to the point it's paining. I sit down again and start to take deep breaths. Jannie frowned and rubbed my back gently.

"Hey, darling, you okay," she asked, worriedly.

I nodded and tried to stand up again but failed.

My heart pain starts to feel like someone is tearing it apart. I'm feeling nauseous, and my eyes are getting blurry. Breathing is seems too luxurious for me. Jannie is saying something, but her voice seems too far. What's happening? Everything is slowly turning black and soon the darkness engulfs me, and I lose my conscience.