CHAPTER 22: NIGHTMARE OF THE PAST.

"No, No, No!" Alexander shot up from his chair and stormed towards the men. He was going to rip them apart for what they had done to Noura. But before he could reach them, he realized he couldn’t move. His body was frozen and he was in great pain. "No! Not her...!" He yelled, yet nothing happened. What was happening to him? Why did it feel like he had suddenly become invisible?

"Boss?" Suddenly, Ethan’s voice rang through Alexander’s ears and his eyes snapped open.

He looked around him. He was in his bedroom, but not on his bed, he was laying on the floor, beads of sweat dripping from his forehead and his fists were firmly clenched.

That was when the realization dawned on him. It was a dream. Not just any dream, but a nightmare that haunted him every time he closed his eyes.

It was her again.

Guilt and pain gripped his chest. His heart felt so heavy that he wanted to throw up.

"Damn it," he cursed under his breath and glanced at the clock from where he was laying. It was a few minutes past five in the morning. It hadn’t even been three hours since he closed his eyes, and if he hadn’t been so tired the previous day, he wouldn’t have slept, because he knew what awaited him once he closed his eyes. The horrors from his past wouldn’t give him a damn break.

Exhaling sharply, he pushed himself up and made his way to the bathroom to clean up, before walking out of the room.

"Are you going somewhere, boss?" Ethan, who had been standing behind the closed door, asked as soon as he came out.

"I will go for a run," he responded. "No need to follow me."

Ethan nodded and asked,

"I came to remind you about the morning meeting with John Ford. Are you still on it?"

"Yes," was Alexander’s short reply before he left the house. He needed to clear his head and prepare himself for the next few hours. But the more he ran down the dark street, the more tormenting it was for him. Even the early morning breeze did nothing to soothe his pain. His lungs were on fire. He couldn’t breathe.

Noura...

That girl went crazy after that night and no matter what, no one could get her. She would go berserk whenever she saw him, and he just let her do whatever he wanted with him without putting up a fight.

There were times when she would keep hitting him with her fist and cry, until she got tired and fell asleep, and other times, it was much worse. She would break empty bottles on his head and when she saw him fall to the ground and bleeding profusely, she would snap back to the little girl he once knew and cry.

But it didn’t stop there. As the day went by, her hatred for him grew deeper. The last time he saw her was the day she drove a knife right into his chest and disappeared, leaving him to die.

Luckily for him, he survived, but she never came back. For the past five years, he had been searching for her, and just a few days ago, he learned that she was gone. Only heaven knew how he felt that day. He was responsible. She had her whole life ahead of her and he ruined it. How could he ever forgive himself?

****

Throughout the night I couldn’t sleep. I kept checking my phone every now and then to see if there was any new message from Noura.

She had told me she wanted to tell me everything I needed to know about Alexander, but as I started to ask more questions, she became quite hesitant to continue.

"He’s an orphan. His father died a few months after his birth and his mother was murdered when he was thirteen," Noura said.

"How did he survive then? Was he adopted?"

"No, he was thrown out by her step-father and lived on the street all his life, where he did some dangerous things to stay alive."

"What do you mean by dangerous things?"

"That’s what I can’t tell you. But he has a girl who he couldn’t do without then... Her name is Linda. She helped him a lot during those times. At just seventeen, she was already a seductress. She would seduce the boss just to get Alexander out of trouble. She has long red hair. Have you met her before?"

Red hair? Then it dawned on me. She was the lady Alexander was having it with the other night.

"Yes, I have seen her."

"Good. Alexander is so in love with her that he would literally do whatever she wanted. I believe they will get married very soon."

Why was she telling me that? It was none of my business who he was in love with. My question was why he chose to marry me if he already had a woman in his life. Suddenly, an idea popped up in my head. If Noura knew so much about Alexander, then she must have an answer to that.

"Do you know why he married me then?" I asked, but she didn’t respond immediately like she was doing before. After what felt like forever, she finally responded.

"I will tell you that when we meet in person. Then you will decide whether to join me or not?"

"Where do you live? And what am I joining you for?"

That was the last text, and she never replied even till this morning. There were a lot of things I needed to know, because the piece of information she gave me only intensified my fear. It made me even more curious to know who this man was and what he wanted from me. I needed to look for Noura, she was the only one who could answer my questions.

Getting out of bed, I went to the bathroom to freshen up, then find my way to the dining room for breakfast. When I opened the door, I was surprised to see Alexander already there. He didn’t acknowledge my presence and focused on his food like I didn’t exist.

I sighed quietly and went to sit down. He also didn’t exist, he was more like a lifeless and soulless jerk to me. But I was curious, curious to know if everything Noura said was true.

Instead of eating, I rested my cheek on my palm and began to watch him closely. He was alluring, too good looking for someone who spent all their lives on the street. And he had no parents. That might be true because I never heard him talk about his parents, and I wonder how that felt. Even though my family never treated me like a human, I couldn’t imagine losing them all to death. That would be horrible.

But wait... was I ’pitying’ him? Hell no. He deserved everything that happened to him. It was just sad that he never knew his father, and his mother was murdered. By who though?

"What are you staring at?" he suddenly asked. I quickly looked down at my food.

"Sorry... I was just thinking about something."

"About what? Running away?" His brows furrowed.

Of course not. But now that he mentioned it, I think I should.

When I didn’t respond, he glanced at his wrist watch, then shortly, he stood up and walked out of the room.

Now that I was alone, my eyes ran over the table and noticed that he didn’t even touch most of his breakfast. Strange. Something seemed off about him this morning. But who cares. He should go rot in hell.