"A moment for your troubles," He said to her. Amber Sanders, 17 and sweet, beauty queen, heir to a massive fortune suddenly goes missing after an auto crash. This is a burden to her parents but there are people lurking in the shadows who couldn't have hoped for a better news. Justin Al-Hassan, a sly hardworking bad boy, finds an unconscious girl in his vehicle and is trapped in an attempted murder twist. It's glaring that he has every reason to kill and no one will believe him in this state. With no memory, all she can do is believe whatever the world says even though she knows deep down that everything isn't right. With no proof, all he can do is serve his sentence and hope that a miracle will gradually unfold. They must unite to discover the memory that's missing and work together to find answers to the mystery surrounding them while battling the feelings they shouldn't have for each other.
Sometimes, an unexpected twist of events could be eventful as it may lead you to your fate and destiny.
- Grace Chanbee
[Los Angeles, California]
Amber sipped her juice as she waited for her date and boyfriend, Richard to come back to the prom hall. He had left about five minutes ago with the excuse of wanting to use the bathroom and unless he was doing the number 2, he should have been back by now.
Amber was dressed in a long blue dinner dress which had a slit that cut right from her left knee to the end of the length of the dress. She wore silver heels coupled with silver accessories, most unique of which was a silver bracelet that had her name encrusted on it and was a present Richard had given to her just that night.
Amber was a beautiful 17 year old girl with a massive fortune to inherit as she was the only child of her billionaire parents. Everyone wanted to be like her, they practically worshipped her and followed her like flies followed mangoes.
However, Amber didn't like the crowd and she wished many times to be like every other normal kid; no parties, no weekend shopping, no maids at her beck and call, no nothing.
She just wanted to be an ordinary teenager who woke up early, had breakfast with the family, rode the bus or a rickety old car to school, had average grades, wore normal clothes and just lived normally.
Of course, she couldn't voice out her real feelings because everyone expected her to love her life and they'd find her weird if she hated such a prestigious lifestyle.
Who didn't want to attend MET galas, meet with celebrities, own a luxury car and have people do everything for them? Well, everyone except Amber.
Amber looked at her phone and saw Richard had been absent for almost fifteen minutes. She kind of panicked because she had told him not to drink but he had probably had a bottle when she wasn't looking.
Everytime Richard had alcohol, he'd go crazy and vomit his balls out but he never learnt, did he?
"Hi Amber," A pretty redhead girl with green eyes said to her.
Amber looked up, "Any problem?"
"Um.. I was just wondering if you think my outfit is cute," She said.
Amber eyed the girl's outfit and decided it was best if she kept her mouth shut.
"Why do you need my
opinion on something you already have on?" Amber asked.
"I don't know, my classmates said the outfit is bad and I was just thinking the fashion pro will know better," The girl said.
Amber smiled, which was something she rarely did; the girl had played on something she knew Amber liked and that 'something' was compliments, Amber loved to be complimented.
"What's your name?" Amber asked.
"Emily," The girl responded with a toothy grin Amber found weird.
"Umm...Emily, first of all, you should have put on a dress and not trousers and a blouse," Amber said.
"Okay, noted," Emily said, her countenance already becoming sour.
"Secondly, Emily, you shouldn't put on a flowery blouse over a striped pair of trousers, it looks really bizarre and it's a red flag in fashion," Amber said.
"Umm... Okay then, thanks," Emily said with a sullen expression as she smoothened her blouse in the hopes that it looked better.
"You should check out my YouTube channel though, it's my real name on there so it'd be easy to find and I've got 800,000+ subscribers so you don't get too confused. I post awesome fashion ideas videos there to help build up your fashion sense," Amber said.
"Yeah," Emily nodded and walked away, feeling disheartened.
Amber couldn't care less however, she was a blunt and straightforward person when it came to giving out her opinions concerning stuff. She knew people hated her for that but won't dare say it to her face in order to continue being in her favour.
Amber was a generous person and she was rich so why blow off your chances with her simply because of a rude remark she made?
She knew the prom king and queen were going to be announced soon and she was perfectly sure she and Richard were going to get the crowns.
She needed to find Richard somehow, she pushed away a strand of hair that was in her face and left the hall in order to search for her boyfriend while ignoring the many stares people flashed in her direction.
Amber was 5'4 with a flawless fair skin and beautiful blonde hair which she always styled differently.
Her guts told her to go check the men's bathroom and she was headed there when she heard the voice of a guy whispering and a girl's voice moaning aggressively coming from a classroom.
She rolled her eyes and decided to mind her business. Why would one make out in school when you had a house or a car? It was just so appalling and unnerving.
Amber got to the bathroom but didn't go inside to prevent her eyes from seeing something they couldn't unsee. She instead called out Richard's name loudly but there was no response forthcoming.
After two minutes, she gave up and decided to go back to the hall. He'd probably followed a different route back to the hall while she was there yelling her guts out, she reasoned.
"Just one more kiss, baby," She heard a familiar voice say as she headed back to the hall, the voice came from the same classroom.
"I have to go now or she'd suspect something," A male voice she knew too well said.
Amber walked gently to the classroom, praying it wasn't the guy she thought it was.
She touched the door handle and opened it with so much force.
Amber's mouth flew agape as she couldn't quite register what she had just seen with her own eyes.
"Richard! Daisy!!" Amber yelled, not believing her eyes.
Richard looked stunned upon seeing Amber who had caught him screwing her foster sister.
"Amber, it's not what you think, I can explain," Richard said, zipping up his trousers.
"It's not what I think it is? Are you suggesting I'm blind or what?" Amber yelled back.
"It's not that, babe, it's just...."
"Just what?" Amber retorted.
She faced Daisy aggressively, "And you? I've always taken you as my sister, why did you do this to me?" She asked.
Daisy picked her bra from the table and clipped it over her boobs and smirked unrepentantly.
"What? Stop acting like you've done me the biggest favour by taking me as your sister cause I never asked you to," Daisy said, eyeing her.
"Did I offend you in any sort of way?" Amber asked, tears rolling down her eyes.
"Yes, you did! You have everything and me, nothing. Your parents are freaking rich and give you everything you need while mine have been certified as criminals and I can't even see them," Daisy said.
"That's because they are, why don't you understand? Your dad tried to murder my mum...."
Daisy cut her off not wanting to hear any explanation, "And so? She deserves to die anyway."
Amber couldn't hold it anymore as she gave Daisy a tight slap on the face, making her pale face become reddened.
"You're an ingrate and you're just like your father. I've given you everything and you still took Richard," Amber said through gritted teeth.
"I wanted him first and you know that," Daisy said.
"Did you? Well, he approached me first...."
"And you could've said no knowing how much I liked him," Daisy interrupted.
Daisy continued, "If I'm like my father then you're like your dad as well. Everything your dad owns was supposed to be my father's own but your dad is deceitful and a cheat, and so are you."
Amber recoiled, knowing Daisy's words were the truth and it hurt her, piercing through her soul badly.
She looked at Richard then at Daisy then from Daisy back to Richard and swallowed hard; she wore an expression that said she'd get back at them then stormed out of the classroom.
With her makeup smudged and with her broken state, there was no possible way Amber was going back to the hall and she just made her way to the driveway, sobbing as she went.
She opened the door of the car and got in, reminiscing over the previous events with tears in her eyes.
Richard had been her first boyfriend and she really loved him with all of her heart. She had liked him even before Daisy had confided in her that she liked him.
Amber had decided not to say anything to Daisy to avoid any issue but when Richard asked her out six months later, she had agreed and she had thought Daisy didn't mind; after all, Daisy's crushes never lasted.
If she had known Daisy still liked him, she would never have agreed to go out with him but then again, who will believe her?
And she knew for a fact that her father wasn't a cheat, he had deserved all the wealth he had; at least, that's what she tried desperately to believe.
A drop of rain fell on her windscreen and she wondered why it had to rain at the worst moments.
She was twenty minutes away from home and she prayed she got home before the rain got any worse, she wasn't good at driving in the rain.
The drops of rain increased and she used the wipers to clean off the raindrops from off the windscreen.
The streetlights soon went off as she came close to their estate. Amber looked around fearfully, she couldn't see quite well in the dark so she pushed back the accelerator and stepped on the brakes immediately to save herself from crashing.
Her head hit the steering wheel with a bump and she yelped in pain. She could only take note of her surroundings with the help of the headlamps but she wasn't too far from home.
She took out her phone and put on the flashlight, thinking of walking all the way down to her home, she wasn't going to disturb any of the drivers at that time of the night.
A car came from the other side all of a sudden and sped to where Amber's car was parked and hit her car intentionally from the back smashing the taillights before she could even do anything or say a word.
Amber's head crashed into the steering wheel once more and she bled slowly, her head aching badly.
She looked at the mirror as two men stepped out of the car behind her wearing all black with masks, she knew they were up to no good and struggled to open the door of the car but it appeared she was stuck.
Amber panicked and shivered with fear, thinking of what step to take.
She saw the men approach her and her heart thumped loudly; she couldn't afford to die just like that and why the hell was everywhere quiet with no one in sight? She wondered.
The men tried opening the door but it didn't budge. One of them motioned to the other man who turned around and headed back to the car grabbing something from the backseat.
Amber shuddered as she saw what he had gone to get was a pestle.
They were going to break open the door, what was she to do?
Her phone started ringing, she saw through the caller ID that it was Richard who was calling. Screw him, she thought as she cut the call and an idea crossed her mind.
She decided to dial the emergency number just before the window near the driver seat was broken with shattered glass scattering in her direction.
She closed her eyes but the pieces of glass touched her legs and arms, piercing them badly and making her groan in pain.
They brought her out of the car as she pleaded with them to spare her life offering to compensate them with anything.
"We want your money!" One of the men hissed.
"And I'd give you more than enough, just spare my life," Amber pleaded, holding one of the men's hands.
"You're just a little girl, you can't give us what we want," The man whose hands she was holding said and kicked her in the belly while she groaned in pain.
Amber caught sight of a tattoo she vividly remembered on the man's left wrist even in her deranged state.
"I know who you are," She muttered, looking at him feeling betrayed.
The man shoved her off, got the pestle and hit her head with it multiple times as she cried and groaned, wondering what her offence was.
"Why are you doing this?" She asked in tears, blood dripping from her head down to her eyes and onto her mouth.
"You're claiming something which isn't yours," The man said and hit her head once more with the pestle ripping her forehead apart and smashing her skull.
Amber sprawled onto the wet floor, unable to make out anything as her eyes closed slowly.
All she could hear faintly before her eyes finally closed was the frail female voice on the phone, "911, what's your emergency?"
And the last thing she saw was the smirk of a man she could never forget...
*****
[Arroyo Grande, California]
Justin Al-Hassan pulled his van over at his stick-built house he managed with his grandmother at Arroyo Grande, California.
Driving from the big city, Los Angeles was always a different overwork on its own; it was already bad that the roads to his street were underdeveloped but driving three hours because of the traffic in the big city was a big pain in the ass.
Justin picked up his water bottle from the passenger seat and gulped the contents down his throat and yawned tiredly; all he wanted right now was his bed and his sleep.
He took his key from the ignition and stepped out of the van slamming the door behind him.
He was going to just lock the van and go on inside but remembering the crime Arroyo grande was known for, he decided to go to the boot of the van and get his goods out.
Thieves couldn't steal the van without the special lock Justin himself had created for it but they could definitely break the windows and get his stuff out which was bad for business.
Justin sighed and opened the boot of the van aggressively due to duress and anger but instead of seeing spare tyres, sacks of materials and a bunch of other stuff, he saw something else.
It was wearing a blue dress and had blonde hair. He felt it was a figment of his imagination, he was just so stressed out that he was beginning to see things.
He shut his eyes for a moment but when he opened his eyes, the figure was still laying there; unmoving, transfixed.
He summoned courage and turned its face to face his; something that left him in shock and sent chills down his spine almost immediately.
Her head was ripped open, her face blank with expression, red blood dried on her face and looked like something that came out of a horror movie.
Justin recoiled, staggered and fell backwards, collapsing to the hard ground as his body gave way to unconsciousness.
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