She jerked out of her sleep struggling for air. Cold sweat had broken out on her skin and she panted and coughed. Victor quickly turned out a glass of water handing it to her.
She gulped the water down her throat and returned the glass to him.
"Was it the dream again?". Victor asked with concern.
"Yeah". She nodded her head multiple times.
"I'm going to inform Drew I can't travel tomorrow". Victor spoke, picking up his phone, but Zyra took it from him.
"You're not going to do that. You'll go and you'll save your business".
"I can't leave you in this state Zy".
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. If I'm going to keep having this dream, are you going to keep postponing saving your business?".
"Yes. If that's what it means".
"Then you're going to lose and I won't let you do that".
"But Zy…".
"Let's not argue over this please. You're taking that flight tomorrow".
"Fine. What happened this time?". Victor wasn't going to argue with his wife while she was in this condition, he gave up.
"T'was the same as last time. And I keep getting out at the same point but it's like there is more".
Victor stared at his wife, who was obviously worried about this dream that kept haunting her.
"My love, I know this might be hard for you, but next time you have this dream, can you stay in it a little bit longer? It might help you get a message or clearance on why you keep having this dream".
Zyra listened to her husband's every word patiently.
"You might be right, Vee. I think I'll try that".
"But if it gets too tough for you in there, please wake up. Please".
She smiled at her husband's words; it was evident he wasn't ready to lose her to some dream.
"I will, my love. You have a flight to catch by morning, so we should go to bed". She spoke, smiling and wrapping her arms around her husband's bare chest.
Victor wrapped his arms around her, and they both lay down. Zyra stayed up thinking about what connection she could have with the water. The only memory she had of that river was having picnics and listening to her mom tell her stories while she braided her hair; their laughter filled the air, and birds sang in the skies. She'd always visit the river with her mum at least three times every week. Apart from that the only other memory she had of that river was the dread of it almost taking her life. Victor stayed up with her running his fingers through her hair until she eventually slept.
Very early the following morning, before Genevieve and her minions woke up, Victor left for his port, accompanied by Drew. He placed the longest kiss on Zyra's forehead before leaving. His mood was sour as he got into the vehicle. He wanted to be there for every part of her life; he was already beginning to think of any possible dangers she could find herself in before he even left the compound.
By daybreak, Zyra had already had her breakfast. She didn't want to share a table with Genevieve and her minions; they always had a way of ruining her meal.
She sat in her room going through the suitcase of files she had gotten from Noel's bank. After arranging all she needed for the three other people, she turned on the TV in her study and began going through the files from Noel's personal safe.
Pictures of Noel popped up on the news. He has been missing for over 36 hours with no trace since he was taken out of his bank by ambulance, the ambulance they found sunk under the bridge. They assumed he was dead but they couldn't be so sure since they didn't find any bodies.
She looked at the TV and scoffed, rolling her eyes as she continued looking through the files. All of a sudden, the name Ashbourne boldly written on one of the files caught her attention. It was her father's will, along with all of his property papers, but why was Noel in possession of these? She had searched the lawyer's house and every possible place she could search before now to find these documents, but she couldn't find them, and here it was in her hands she thought it would be with one of the elder relatives.
She quickly went through her father's will, which stated that all of his properties would go to his wife, and if she were no more, then they would go to his daughter. If by chance anything also happens to his daughter all of his assets should be donated to the government and his money and other properties should be donated to orphanages and nursing homes. His will never included his family and there they were reaping where they did not sow.
Carla was so pissed that the hatred and anger she had for these people suddenly tripled. She couldn't wait to make them pay. She wanted to call Victor and tell him what she had found since he was normally the first person she shared stuff with, but she thought again because she didn't want to disturb him while he was doing something important to save his company. She picked up her phone and made a call. As soon as she dropped the call the news headlines changed. All over the news, they were speaking about the embezzlement and fraudulent activities that Noel Castillo had been running under the cover of his bank, profiting, and there was proof.
The whole town was in chaos. Aunty Mabel and Uncle Bristol's phones were swamped with calls, texts, and emails, including threat messages. They both had to go into hiding.
Zyra called Rafi and informed him to prepare for her visit to Noel tonight. After dropping the call, she got dressed and stepped out of her room. As she walked down the stairs, she heard that familiar, annoying, unfortunate voice.
"Hey, you". Genevieve called out to Zyra.
Zyra continued making her way down the stairs as if she hadn't heard anything.
"Hey, I'm talking to you, Zyra or whatever your name is".
Zyra only stopped when she heard her name. She rolled her eyes and breathed heavily before turning around.
"Yes, what can I do for you".
"Oh so she can hear me. Where's my son? I have nothing to discuss with you".
"I'm glad. Victor went out".
"Where?".
"None of your business".
Genevieve narrowed her eyes and clenched her fist in anger but Zyra was the least scared by her. After staring at her for a while Zyra turned to leave.
"Well, my daughters and I want to go shopping". She spoke with authority.
"Ok, cool. The chauffeur would drop you off". She spoke and proceeded down the stairs but the mother and daughters continued to follow her.
"Are we supposed to shop with our teeth?".
"You can shop with whatever you want to".
"You do seem to have nerve". Genevieve was pissed by the answers Zyra gave her. She held her by the arm.
"I know". Zyra replied calmly.
The worst Genevieve could do was boil in anger; she dared not do anything further than that.
"Well, Victor give us money to shop".
"Great. Well, I'm not Victor, and I'm not giving you a single dime. I'm aware that Victor gave you and your daughter a huge sum of money last night as a monthly allowance, huge enough to buy yourselves a house individually. So if that money isn't sufficient for you, your daughter and your add-on to go shopping, then sit at home and think of a way to make yourselves useful". She spoke sternly to Genevieve before walking past her and heading out.
Genevieve and her minions stood in their positions and swallowed up all the shame Zyra had shoved down their throat.
Past 10pm, Rafi's car pulled up at his boss's gate. He gave her a call, and she came out of her room fully adorned in a black outfit camouflaging her into the night.
Hazel screamed in shock as she spotted Zyra. The glass in her hand shattered to the ground. She had come down to take a glass of water since she had run out of water in her jug upstairs.
"Where are you going?" She asked Zyra. Her voice was shaking.
"I'm going to work. Clean this up and go back to bed". She spoke, her voice scary and her glare even scarier as she walked off.
Hazel froze in fear as she subconsciously checked the time on her phone. Cold sweat broke out on her body and she could feel her sight slowly fading.
As she stepped in, Noel was panting profusely. His sweat had completely wet the blanket of the bed he was chained to.
"Mrs Hale, Mrs Hale thank goodness you're here. Please save me". He cried out. He hadn't noticed the glare in her eyes.
With time, he noticed that she was unshaken by his plea, and he decided to look well at the woman he was pleading to save him. Her dark eyes and cold smirk matched the energy of her outfit, evidently showing him that she was not here to help him; she was his doom. He shook his head. Fear had gripped every joint in his body.
"Thank you boys. You all have done a great job. Please leave us alone". She spoke dispatching the huge men in complete black who had been torturing Noel until she stepped in.
She sat comfortably on the stool beside him, and she enjoyed the rhythm of his unsteady breath. His bloodshot vein in his eyes was an amiable sight to her as she drew the liquid into the syringe.
His look was like that of an animal about to be killed struggling to survive with his very last energy.
"Mrs Hale, what did I ever do to you? Why are you doing this to me?". He spoke his voice shaking. While Zyra sat quietly, emptying little of the liquid out of the syringe. As the liquid touched his face he jerked.
"Oh, you're going to be the one to tell me that Mr Castillo". No sign of pity in her eyes.
"How am I supposed to know that? The only thing I've done is respect and look up to you and your husband. Why would you want to kill me?".
"Awwww. I'm sure you'd prefer to die than go out into the world that wants to devour you and watch you rot".
"Why would anyone want that for me? Everyone loves me".
"Clearly not everyone. I'm a living example from thousands more". She spoke, extending her hand to Rafi, who gave her the tablet in his hand.
She placed the screen in front of him so that he could see people rioting that he must be found and brought to justice along with evidence of his fraud.
"No, this can't be. How did this get out?".
"I got it out. I also planned the heist in your bank and stole those files from your safe. I wanted you to feel the pain of losing everything you have, the way you made my parents, Mr and Mrs Ashbourne, lose everything, including their lives".
"How could that be? You're Lilith?". His eyes widened in terror.
She smirked.
"I just told you my little secret now it's your turn".