Ciana opened her eyes.
She blinked a couple of times before fully waking up.
She raised her hand on the air as she clenched it a couple of times.
She looked at the unfamiliar, but somehow familiar, room she's in.
She turned her head to the right.
She was stunned to see her ex-husband.
Her eyebrows knitted but she didn't fuss.
Kai Andrews.
She liked this guy since she was 12. And she married him at 18. But they eventually divorced seven years after marriage. Well... at least that's what she saw in her dream.
She looked at the handsome man before her. A tear unconsciously dropped from her eye as she felt her heart chilling.
She sacrificed for him. A lot.
But right now, she doesn't feel like sacrificing anymore.
She silently got up, dressed and left.
From her dream, she remembers how he left without a word the morning after their wedding night. But she didn't mind it back then, because she was still drunk from the happiness of being married to the man she has loved for years.
Ciana went downstairs for a coffee. She drank her coffee on the veranda of the opposite room from where her husband is still sleeping. In the veranda, there were potted plants and vines that made it look very green and pleasant to the eyes. On the ground floor is the swimming pool. The house is built on top of a cliff, not exactly on the edge, but on a spot where the wide ocean is at view.
She sat there, looking at the ocean with coffee in hand.
She deliberated whether what she dreamed of was really just a dream or something that really happened.
She clenched her fist a couple of times again.
'But it just felt so real. As if I really experienced it all.'
She pondered for a little bit more.
'There really is just one way to tell whether it's true or just a dream. But I have to remember the events that happened from this day onward.'
She sat there for an hour. And in that hour, she recollected all the things she needed to remember and take note of. As she recalled the events, she can't help but think that it must've been true. Otherwise, how can she remember it so clearly? If it was just a dream then she'd have forgotten a lot of the details already...
She took another half an hour before she settled her thoughts and plans. She stood up and went downstairs. She saw her husband in the kitchen with his suit on and a newspaper in hand. He was eating breakfast already.
It pricked her heart a little. He ate without even waiting for her. But that tiny ache disappeared immediately.
She walked straight out of the door and went directly to the parking garage. She took a car and drove to the center city.
While driving, she thought of ways on how she could come in contact with her grandfather's assistant when she got there. She's aware that her grandfather is unwilling to meet with any of the blood relatives and the fact that he severed ties with all of his children and siblings is no secret.
But she has to at least meet a person close to him. She needs to save her grandfather from having an accident during his trip to Tabaghsa City, the second most luxurious city out there.
Although she has never met him in her dream during this time of the year, she met him in her hospital room a one month before she died, or at least that's what she remembers.
Her grandfather was the only one who visited her in the hospital. She didn't understand why he went there to see her but she saw pity in his eyes. She also heard him say how it was lamentable that she was to die before him, an old man.
That day, when she was so sick and nearing to death, his visit had reminded her that she once was young and full of vigor... and she realized that it was all her fault she lived a miserable life for the past couple of years that she's been divorced. She did this to herself. And the least person she ever expected was the only person who visited her, the person who reminded her who she was, and the person who saved her from being lost before dying.
"Grandfather, what happened to your foot? Why are you holding a cane?" she asked with bated breaths.
He didn't feel the need to answer her, but he still did. "I got caught in an accident when I went to Tabaghsa City 9 years ago."
9 years ago?
'That was the year I got married.'
She wanted to ask more questions, but she felt like the old man didn't want to stay longer and even if she insisted, her health would not allow her to.
"Please live a long and happy life grandpa. Thank you for coming to see me."
The old man stayed with her for a couple of minutes. He left when she no longer could let her eyes stay open as she closed them to sleep. She really was sickly and very easy to tire.
One month after that, she left. In the span of a month between her grandfather's visit and her death, she was able to reflect on how pitiful she lived her life. How miserable and degrading she became. She cried almost every time she woke up. Thinking of her unborn child, her desolate days of always thinking about her ex-husband, how she became a scapegoat for her little brother, and how she shamefully judged her grandfather for being selfish and uncaring of his kin.
She truly regretted how she uselessly wasted her life for nothing as she wallowed in despair for years.
Ciana was able to reach her grandfather's company. She walked to the reception and asked the ladies on the counter.
"Good morning. Hi, my name is Ciana Alvares. Can I see Liam Alvares?" [Ciana]
"May I know if you have an appointment with him?" the lady asked kindly.
"Uhm no. But I need to talk to him." [Ciana]
"I'm sorry miss. You need to book an appointment with him first," the lady informed her.
"Well how about his secretary? May I talk with his secretary instead?" [Ciana]
She smiled, "Let me call his desk to see if he's available. Please wait for a moment."
"Thank you." [Ciana]
The lady talked in the phone for less than a minute.
"I was told to inform you that he is also busy for the time being. Would you like to leave him a message instead? I hardly get to speak with him but I could at least deliver your message if I get the chance to see him," the lady was really very kind to offer.
"Thank you. May I please ask for a piece of paper then?" [Ciana]
She was given a paper and a pen. She wrote a brief message before handing it to the receptionist.
"Please hand it to him as soon as possible. Thank you again so very much." [Ciana]
The lady smiled as she accepted the paper.
Don't get the lady wrong for being suspiciously kind, she really is a good person. That very evening, as she was about to get off work, she saw Liam Alvares' secretary. She ran to him with the letter in hand.
"Good evening sir, a lady named Ciana Alvares came this morning. She didn't have an appointment booked but she wanted to meet you or the president. She left this letter instead. Well then, I'll leave now. Have a safe trip home, sir Ken."
"Thank you. You take care, too," Ken, Liam Alvares' secretary, bid the lady farewell.
He read the short letter before his eyebrows knitted together.