“Ronan, bring Danny. It’s time we let them go. Their purpose is over, anyway,” Sage ordered, and after five minutes, Danny was brought by two men.
“Aaliyah!” Danny shouted as soon as he saw her, and Aaliyah’s gaze softened before she walked to him.
“He will let you go. Take care of your girlfriend, and stop making her so worried. I am sorry you had to go through this because of me,” Aaliyah said.
“What do you mean? They are letting me go. What about you? Will you stay here? No! I won’t allow this. I can’t enjoy freedom when I know you are risking your life for me,” Danny struggled against the men, and Aaliyah placed her hand on his cheeks, making Sage raise his brows.
“I will be okay. Sage would never hurt me. Right, Sage?” Aaliyah asked, and she was about to turn to Sage when she gasped.
Sage was standing right behind her, and without warning, he kicked Danny in the abdomen, making him stumble back.
“Only I have the right to get touched by her. And she is right. I would never hurt her even in my wildest dreams,” Sage said, and Aaliyah sighed.
“Go,” She said to Danny, who looked at Aaliyah reluctantly.
He wanted to help and not leave her alone like this, but it’s not like he had much choice either. He was useless in front of so many men and would only act as a burden to her.
Danny nodded at her, and Aaliyah looked at Sage, who nodded at his men.
The gag was taken out of Alex’s mouth, and he fell to the ground.
“T-than-thank y-you,” Alex bawled his eyes out, and though Aaliyah hated him for what he tried to do with her and knew if Dominic hadn’t stopped her, she would’ve killed him, she still felt bad for Alex for going through that kind of torture.
Aaliyah could see his bloodied hands and cuts all over his body.
“Let’s talk over some smoothie that you love, okay?” Sage cupped Aaliyah’s cheeks, and she wanted to jerk his hand away, but she wanted her friends to be safe and sound before she made any move.
“Sure. Let’s do that,” Aaliyah nodded.
Danny and Alex were freed, and Aaliyah looked at her watch with impatience.
“Do you like it? I asked them to make it to your liking. Not too sweet and slightly bitter with dark chocolate,” Sage looked at Aaliyah with obsession, and Aaliyah brought her legs together in nervousness.
This man in front of her was the reason she disliked Dominic when he mentioned he had been stalking her.
“Hmm, it tastes good,” Aaliyah thinned her lips before forcing a smile.
Was there any other way to get through this situation? While drinking the smoothie, Aaliyah kept looking around without being too obvious to Sage’s observing eyes.
“Did you miss me?” Sage blinked his eyes innocently, and anyone who didn’t know him would’ve mistaken his gaze for love, but Aaliyah knew better.
This gaze and smile are exactly how she fell into his trap.
She vaguely remembers the haunting day when she met him for the first time.
Aaliyah was returning from school. Her usual path was going through the main road, but she was unlucky that day. There was a rally on the main road, and that’s why she had taken the second route.
Since Aaliyah learned kickboxing at a young age, she wasn’t so fearful of any thug. When she was walking, she heard someone screaming. A couple of men were beating a man.
They were in her way, and it was practically impossible to not pass them to go ahead.
That’s exactly when everything started. If Aaliyah had known helping a man in need would give her a lifetime of trauma, she wouldn’t have even looked and breathed the same air as him. When Aaliyah walked by that man getting beaten up, the other men said something she didn’t like.
‘Who are you to meddle in our business? Just a local thug. Do you think you would destroy our business, and we would let you do it with happy smiles? Those girls are for us to sell and use,’ the man had said, and Aaliyah immediately felt that the man getting beaten was the good person and the other ones were the bad ones.
At that time, she wasn’t as calm and collected as today. She had a deep sense of justice back then, and she immediately got into action and saved Sage.
Aaliyah thought the matter was settled the moment she admitted Sage into the hospital. However, who would’ve known he would come looking for her at her school?
It began with a thank you card and some flowers. She hadn’t thought much about it. But what started with a ‘thank you’ started going further when Sage started following her everywhere.
First, Aaliyah thought he had fallen in love with her, and she didn’t mind him much. She was feeling pretty good because Sage was really good-looking, and most girls in her grade were jealous of her. Sage always has a dangerous vibe. And they were head over heels for him.
As time started to pass, Aaliyah started observing things about Sage that were maddeningly sick. When he used to buy ice cream, he used to ensure no one looked at her.
He once beat up a guy just because he stared at Aaliyah for more than 5 seconds.
Then there was this one time when the waiter accidentally touched Aaliyah’s hand, and Sage broke his hand in the crowd.
Aaliyah knew what gang members were like, and she was sure what Sage was doing was way overboard. He would call her as soon as she left the school to meet up, and if she were busy, he would track her down until he saw her.
It wasn’t hard for Aaliyah to realize Sage wasn’t in love with her. He was obsessed with her.
Later, she found out that Sage wasn’t some saint. The girl trafficking that those men were talking about when she ‘rescued’ Sage was also related to him. They were angry because Sage was taking away their clients. Though he left that work after meeting Aaliyah, it doesn’t make a difference that he was involved in it, right?
One night she was sleeping soundly in her room when she woke up in the middle of the night. Seeing her windows open, she walked to them when she noticed his car parked two houses away from her house.
Not only Aaliyah but her mom and sister noticed this too. At first, they were confused that this was related to Harry, but things started to go wild.
He started sending flowers and gifts to her house every day.
Even if she said she was thinking of eating some pizza, it would be delivered to her house, no matter the time. Aaliyah soon realized he was getting to know everything about her, and she found a tracker in her phone that he might’ve installed in earlier days.
These were just small things compared to what happened next.
When Aaliyah confronted him and called him an obsessed stalker, Sage lost it and killed a man right in front of her. He told her every time she would call him a stalker, an innocent man would die, and it would be on her. He wasn’t a stalker. He was her lover.
He almost raised his hand at her to make her believe he was in love with her, and that wasn’t even the worst thing.
Aaliyah would never be able to forget that sick smile he used to give her, no matter how many times she hurt him physically or mentally.
The mental torture of being under Sage’s creepy observance was so unbearable that there were times when she thought of hurting herself.
She clearly remembers that vivid day when she had picked a razor to make a small cut and release her frustration. However, before the razor could even touch her skin, Sage barged into the house and knocked down her door.
‘You are mine. I won’t allow anyone to look at you or hurt you. Only I have the right,’ Sage had shouted at her before grabbing her neck and slamming her on the wall.
At that time, no one was at home. And since she was home alone, she was only dressed in her top and shorts with no undergarments under them. She had never thought that the guy who only dared to camp a few houses away would rush into her house like this. And maybe that’s because she underestimated him too much.
That day, the way Sage looked at her with an unsatiated hunger terrified Aaliyah.
‘Don’t be afraid of me, Aaliyah. I will never harm you. I will never touch you without your permission. Just let me, let me hug you once,’ Sage stepped forward after letting her go, making her step back in fear.
Despite the techniques she had learned to save herself, Aaliyah’s body couldn’t move, and he hugged her. His hands roamed her back in a way that she felt violated.
She was very well aware of the thoughts he had in mind.
“I want to make you mine so badly,” Sage had whispered in her ears before kidnapping and taking her to an island.
Only she knows how scared she was at that time. Her mother had almost flipped the whole city with her high-end officer connections.
Most of her memories of the island were vague because she was kept sedated most of the time so that she didn’t escape. Sage had said he took her there because he wanted to marry her, and before he could do the necessary, the police had tracked her, and they got busy with that.
“I didn’t,” Aaliyah smiled, clenching her teeth to stop herself from trembling. She knows better than anyone that honesty is the best policy when it comes to Sage.
If she had lied and said yes, he would’ve killed a man here in anguish.
But wait for a second. Won’t it make Aaliyah’s work easy? If Sage kills his men himself, she would have fewer men to fight, and her escape would be more plausible and possible. Right?
However, she still can’t figure out why he called her here. There was not a single hint of anger or vibes of revenge coming from him for what happened on the island.
When Aaliyah noticed everyone was busy developing strategies to distract the police, and they had gone out, Aaliyah shot Sage in anger to get herself free.
She couldn’t hit a vital spot, but it was more than enough for her to escape before the police got to her. That’s exactly why she learned shooting too.
Aaliyah took a deep breath before she looked straight into Sage’s eyes.
“So? What is the reason you have called me here? I am sure you didn’t work so hard to make me taste this smoothie,” Aaliyah asked, and Sage smiled, observing her with love.
“It’s been so long since I saw you up close. It must’ve been hard, no? Living in this new place with such rusty people like Alex and Maria, no? However, you don’t need to worry anymore. I am back to take away your pain,” Sage tucked her hair behind her ears, and Aaliyah tried her best to not flinch away.
“I can see that. You are back,” To torment me. Aaliyah didn’t say the last three words and smiled.
“Well, stop looking around. You will never be able to know how many people are here. What is in front of you is not even ten percent of the people guarding this place. I have waited for his day for a long time. Do you think I would make any mistakes? I am quite prepared for everything,” Sage smiled.
“Marcus,” Sage looked at one of his men, and the man nodded back before bringing one person that Aaliyah least expected to see in a place like this.
A priest?
“What is the meaning of -”
“Let me do what I couldn’t the last time. Let’s get married,” Sage said, and Aaliyah widened her eyes.
Of all the things she had imagined, this was the least expected one. Is he still as obsessed with her as before?