CHAPTER 2

Marietta P.O.V

"Did we hit someone?" I asked, sliding out of the car.

When I was deep in my thoughts, our car stopped with a sudden jerk and a thud. I looked around the car suspiciously. We had stopped mid-highway, and there was no one around us.

"Maybe...a lady...I guess." John retorted, slightly panicked, as he hurriedly ran towards the front of the car.

"Damn it!" I cursed and ran behind him to the front.

Only the headlights of the car were throwing light on the front view. A lady was lying on the ground in front of our car. That was what we probably hit. She was lying face-down. I marched towards her and helped her up in a sitting position as I knelt in front of her to look for any injury. Thankfully there were none besides some minor scratches.

My bodyguards had already arranged a water bottle for her. She started to drink it slowly while I took the time to observe her. She looked in her late sixties, her face covered in wrinkles and fine lines, her hairs were white and shiny, and she had tied them in a loose pony.

What was she doing in the mid of an empty highway?

I looked around again only to found the empty road. There was no one around us. I felt some weird flips inside my stomach. Shaking my head, I looked back at her. She finished the full bottle of water before looking at me.

"Are you okay?" I asked but she remained silent and looked at me curiously as if, she was lost in some thoughts. "I'm very sorry. We were in some rush. I hope we don't have hurt you." I apologized.

She remained silent and just stared at me, not a stare; it was more like a glance or observing gaze. I felt a bit awkward from her gaze but when I looked into her eyes, more like inside her eyes, everything around me vanished.

Her eyes were shining like a yellow light. I couldn't move my gaze away from her eyes. It felt as if, her eyes were made of gold, a pure shining sun, a bright yellow light. There was something that obsessed me. I didn't blink. I kept on looking, there was something strange in her eyes. I felt lost in them.

"Ma'am, are you alright? Should we take you to the hospital?" One of my bodyguards asked and I blinked; came back in reality. I released the breath which I didn't know I was holding.

"I'm fine. Thank you!" She finally spoke in a highly British accent.

"Glad to know that. It's just an accident and if you are alright. We would like to move now." My bodyguard spoke whose name I had already forgotten. "Princess, we should move now." He turned towards me and said. I nodded.

"I wish you rule on 2 worlds. I wish you become Queen of 2 worlds." That old woman said, her words held commitment and determination.

I snapped my head in her direction. I blinked at her confused, unable to comprehend her meaning. My heartbeat increased as my stomach clenched due to an unknown feeling, but I managed to nod.

"Let's go, ma'am." My bodyguard said and I didn't realize when I started to walk towards the car, and when she stood up from the road and moved aside from our way. It was her meaningless words that kept echoing in my head.

I angled my head back at her and she smiled at me, glancing one last time at her, I sat inside the car. In no time, our car started to move. But my mind didn't move from her. That knowing smile and the determination of her words irked me too much. She seemed as if, she knew something that I don't know.

What exactly did she mean? What did she want to say? Was it a wish? What a weird wish! But why was I so bothered?

We reached the hotel 30 minutes late, where the party was being held and the media was already there surrounding the building. I put myself together and pushed all weird thoughts to the back of my mind.

John got out of the car and opened the door for me. I came out of the car and the media began to take photographs and throwing different questions. There were so many flashes of cameras trying to damage my vision. That was big news for them since many big shots were called to this party and also Amino's was not a small thing. My bodyguards held them back as I walked towards the entrance.

I arrived 30 minutes late because of that mysterious and weird old woman. She even gave me a weird wish. Her words were still echoing in my eardrums. I shivered at her words. Her words felt strange and I was speechless about them.

'I wish you rule on 2 worlds. I wish you become Queen of 2 worlds.'

I cringed as the words again echoed in my head. What could she possibly mean by that? I shook my head hard to divert my attention back to the door. I looked at myself in the wall-size mirror at the entrance and plastered a wide smile on my lips, then I walked inside.

How could I, Marietta Amino, who didn't even want to become a part of her family business, just got a terrible wish from a strange old lady? There was something in her whole appearance which irked me. I don't know what was that something?

"Is it a Halloween party?" These words escaped my mouth as the darkness inside the hotel welcomed me.

"SURPRISE!" Everyone shouted as the lights started to turn on. The once silent atmosphere was replenished with birthday music. A surprised gasp escaped my mouth looking at the view in front of me.

The big hall was illuminated with white and black decorations. In the center, there was a spotlight area where my whole family stood with a cake. Around the spotlight area, round tables and chairs had been placed with white lilies and white roses enhancing the decoration more.

My eyes filled with tears as I watched the whole scene. It was such a beautiful moment that filled my heart with warmth and love. I forgot about everything and just looked at the scene in front of me with speechless happiness. I was unable to explain my reaction at that time. It was so sweet and cute.

'Wait for a second, it's my birthday and I didn't even remember. GREAT! What a memory I have!' I chuckled at my inner voice.

I walked towards the spotlight area as my family sang together, "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Marietta, Happy Birthday to you..." I smiled stopping in front of the cake. It was a 3-tiered, white cream-colored cake with flower designs and pink flowers decorated on top of it, increasing its beauty. As I blew out the candle, the hall was filled with clapping. At that moment, I felt really special.

My father - Max Amino, kissed my forehead and said, "Happy birthday, sweetheart." I smiled and tightly hugged him. He was the one who had always fulfilled my wishes. I loved him more than anyone.

Then my mother - Emily Amino, kissed me on both cheeks and said, "Happy 20th birthday, my little Angel. May your all dreams come true." I hugged her too. She was the world's best mom, and I knew no matter how bad deeds I do, although I never did any bad deeds, still, I knew one thing for sure, she was the one who would be always there to stand by my side.

I heard Mia's voice saying, "Enough for mother-daughter love, now it's our turn." Mia was my sister-in-law by relation but she always treated me like a blood sister. She was looking beautiful in that backless bodycon dress and her blonde hairs dropped on one shoulder.

She hugged me and wished, "Happy Birthday, sweety." I whispered a thank you.

"Happy Birthday, my Monkey," Allessandro Amino, my big brother, said and hugged me. I smiled at him. If there was any best brother award in this world, I would surely give all of them to him.

"Al, thank you!" I said with a big smile which disappeared when I heard a voice.

"Yeah, Happy Birthday, Miss lost memory. You didn't even remember your birthday." Caroline Amino, my big sister, said with a smirk, smacking me with her words. She was elder than me but smaller than Al.

"Anyways, I hope you do not repeat the same mistakes as the previous year." She added with a displeased face. In my 20 years of life, I was still unable to find the reason for her hatred towards me. I stopped the urge to cry.

"Thank you!" I whispered with a weak smile, trying my best not to broke into tears.

********

"Wasn't it golden jubilee of Amino's industries?" I asked Mia who was sitting beside me on the chair. It was irritating me that 'Who on earth forgets her birthday?'

"Yes, it is, but it's your birthday too so we decided to do a combined party to surprise you." She replied with a grin.

My parents were busy with guests and Caro was nowhere to be seen. Probably she was busy with Liam somewhere. You know love birds. I smiled at my own thought.

Out of blue, someone placed a bouquet of white roses in front of me, 20 roses to be exact. I raised my eyebrows and looked at that person's face. He showed me his white toothy grin before kneeling down in front of me.

"Sorry, I'm late." He said, looking at me with his ocean blue eyes and a beautiful smile as he added, "Happy Birthday, Princess."

"Veward, just tell me one thing. Why are you always late?" I asked, totally annoyed. This guy had a habit of arriving late everywhere. It doesn't matter if it was a class or any party.

"Sorry..." He said with a beautiful smile that melted my heart. So, I took the roses from him.

"You guys carry on, excuse me...." Mia said and went away not before passing me a wink. She thought Veward was my boyfriend, but he wasn't. Was he? Well, I didn't know. Maybe....he was more than a best friend and less than a boyfriend.

"So, what's the plan for tomorrow?" He asked, settling himself on the chair beside me.

"Nothing special, I'll just try to spend some time with Caro." I said with my gaze busy looking at the flowers in my hand. Their petals felt so soft and smooth in my touch.

"Stop playing dumb," He said with a pissed off face.

"What do you mean by 'playing dumb'?" I said, mimicking his tone, suddenly feeling so annoyed as frowned at him.

"You know she doesn't like you. So why do you always do what hurts you?" His voice was filled with anger and concern.

I knew he was right but I could not lose hope because I wasn't the type of person who could lose hope so easily, without at least trying harder. She was my sister after all. How could I stop trying? There was still hope of maybe someday.

"Of course, you've already tried really hard, now... let it be." He said as if he was reading my mind. It really flushed me when he read me like a book like he knew everything about me.

"Shut up! Go bring me something to drink." I said, stopping the conversation. He left with a pout. I put those flowers on the table and sighed deeply.

"Happy birthday, beautiful!" Liam's voice startled me and I looked up at his stupid smirk.

"Did I scare you? Oops sorry!" He said full dramatically. That earned him a glare from me.

"So, what do you want from me as a gift?" He asked, playfully with a wink.

"Thank you but nothing," I said, trying to stop the conversation before it could begin.

"Think again... Maybe I can do something for you, something special?" He asked with a wink and I felt my jaw clenched. How much I wanted to slap him but I controlled myself, not wanting to create a scene in front of the paparazzi

"Ridiculous!" I stood up and made my way towards Veward, who was coming towards me with two drinks in his hands.

"What happened?" He asked, noticing my frown.

"Nothing," I said. Veward didn't like that jerk talking with me. He despised Liam as much as I do. Liam was my sister, Caro's boyfriend, and a real flirt if you had not noticed yet.