SIXTY-SIX

ANISHA'S POV

After reading the note again, Valentina stared at it for a long while. She folded it neatly and placed it back in the envelope. She stared at the envelope and handed it back to me. I placed it in my jacket pocket.

"He should not have said that. It was not necessary, even if he had no plans of befriending you. But then, Anisha, this is Dylan we're talking about. He is a de Milo. The de Milos own this country. Almost every hospital in this county belongs to them. All those yachts, the private island and everything that we hear about them! They are well connected. Dylan doesn't know what it means to go to bed hungry. He can never be found in a place like this; where rats run in the ceiling the whole night through.

Look at it this way: Dylan was scared. Scared for his life. That man Eden was a lunatic; and he could have easily killed all of you, and because of that, Dylan was scared. And probably lonely. He needed someone to talk to. You were unfortunate to be that person. He spoke to you because you were the one available at that time."

"You think so? Why do I feel like I have been dumped by a boyfriend?" I told her honestly how I felt.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Anisha. At the time when you all thought that you were going to die, I want to believe that Dylan felt sorry for you. You were probably the most stressed out person in that room. You were the only lady, and Liam had been taken away from you; so he said kind words. Dylan said kind words to make you feel good, so that even if you were to die, your last memories would be the best memories of them all.

He knew that you had a crush on him. almost every girl secretly wishes to be his girlfriend. So he used that; and he did it for you. Dylan is not bad, Anisha. He did it all to comfort you and to make you forget about the trauma of being kidnapped.

He might have come a bit too harsh in his letter, but we can't entirely blame him. maybe he is not good with words, and he just wrote the first words that came to his mind. For the sake of your sanity, my friend, forgive him.

Look at it like this, Anisha; you spent a month with him. how many ladies would pay to spend even an hour with Dylan? Yet you spent a whole month with him. You saw him at his highest and at his lowest. You saw him angry. You heard his laughter. You saw his fears, you even saw his tears. You wiped his tears, Anisha! You felt the warmth of his hug. You saw him worried. You shared ideas with him. You planned a way of escape. Together! For one solid month you were together. That on its own should make you smile. You know him much better than the rest of girls who are rich and dreaming of being his wife. Look at it that way, Anisha.

Dylan might not want to be your friend now, but he cannot erase the one month that you were friends. The time that he detangled your hair with his own fingers. When you suffered together…he cannot erase that. And he will never forget you. He may see you and not want to talk to you, but he knows you by name. If he were to call you, he would call you by name. Anisha Meyerton. He would call you by name, Anisha.

Shh, don't cry now. Wipe off those tears, my sister. It's ok, it's all good. You still have me, don't cry my dear sister. You still have me. We have each other. Let's work hard, let's go and get ourselves jobs. And then we can go back to college. One day we will be CEOs, Anisha. One day we will be CEOs of our own companies. One day we will drive our own cars, and we won't have to stay in rooms with rats anymore. We will be CEOs, Anisha. CEO Anisha Meyerton. CEO Valentina Meyerton….you just wait and see....."

DYLAN'S POV

When I woke up, I was shocked to realise that it was already late morning. How did that happen? The previous day, I recalled very well, my plan was to leave Cloud Nine and visit Anisha at the hospital. I remembered having to pass through Clear Opal, since my mother was really making a fuss and demanding for Pete and I to be home. I clearly remembered our hospital visit plan, but it seemed like that had not happened at all.

Quickly I rushed to check on Pete. Both of us had spent the night in the guest wing of the Clear Opal Manor, and our suites were next to each other. I knocked and pushed open the door. A housekeeper was inside, folding some linen.

"Good morning sir Dylan. Sir Pete has already left", she told me. I simply nodded and left the room to call Pete.

"What happened yesterday?" I asked as soon as the call was connected. "Were we not supposed to visit Anisha at the hospital?"

"We were, but as soon as we got home, you fell asleep like a dead log. It looked like you had been drugged, trust me."

I was silent for a while, trying to process what he had just said.

"I was asleep? Yes, I think I remember saying I needed to lie down for a few minutes…"

"And then you slept for long hours."

"Do you think I was drugged?" I asked in a serious tone.

"Nope. I don't think so. I think you're tired, and that medication you're taking could have caused that. And don't forget that you ate too much at cloud Nine," he laughed.

"Oh, I was really beginning to believe that someone drugged me."

"Come on Dylan. Who would do that, and why? The kidnapping traumatized you."

After ending the call, I headed downstairs. At the breakfast table, I saw a lot of food laid up there. There were about three different kinds of nuts, cereals, milk, different types of bread, teas and coffees, juices, fruits, eggs cooked in various ways. I widened my eyes in shock, only to see one of the housekeepers walking in with a huge bowl of sauce, followed by the head chef carrying a whole roasted chicken.

"What's this? What's happening? Do we have guests?" I could not help but ask.

Iris immediately came into the room and laughed. "Good morning sir Dylan"

"Iris...good morning. Are we expecting guests?"

She laughed again and motioned her hands towards the kitchen, "there's more! Bring in those two bowls. Ma'am de Milo instructed the chefs to cook all this. She said you need to eat, because you were starved for a whole month, and you look dehydrated and starved."

"No way! I am fine. I can't possibly eat all that!"

"We'll help you!", came Arianna's cheerful voice as she ran into the room. She picked an apple and took a huge bite.

"Take a bite!" she shoved the apple into my mouth and I took a huge bite too.

"Take some more!", Arianna spoke while she peeled a banana and was about to push it into my mouth when I dodged. "I'm fine. I'm fine! Let me go take a shower first!" she continued to put the banana in my face and I ran towards the elevator, with Arianna following me, laughing, I got in and just in time, she also entered and smashed the banana in my face.

"Eat it!" she laughed. We met Ciera upstairs and she merely rolled her eyes and said, "These two! Arianna you're still behaving like a seven year old. Grow up!"

"What's bad with having fun with my brother?" Arianna shouted back.

I ran into the guest bedroom and I was too late to close the door. Arianna entered and smashed more banana in my face. "Enough, Arianna! Please!" I pleaded with her.

I ran into the bathroom and closed the door behind me. She was pushing it open but I pushed back.

"I'm naked now!! if you open it's your fault! I want to take a bath, I'm naked!"

"You're lying!"

"It's the truth! Enter at your own risk!", I laughed.

"Are you naked for real?"

"Yes!"

I heard her giggling as she walked off.