Aliyah was a girl from 2020 and in just a snap of the clock, she was transported to a year where the biggest twist of her life was about to happen, where she was destined to meet a young soldier who will change her fate. In the year 1950, where her boring life will change.
The uncertainty of the world always makes me think about how I can find real happiness. Is happiness still relevant in this cruel world? Or greediness makes the people feel the satisfaction they are wanting to feel.
When the pandemic started to blow, I readied myself for the possible event will happen in the future. I always think about what will happen tomorrow, but I forgot to look back on the past to reminisce some lessons.
After the 14-day quarantine period, I was able to go home after 5 months of being on duty. I am a nurse, and the pandemic tested my ability. I am not so sure if I fulfill my duty very well. Every time I see people suffer; I think what I am doing is not enough.
"I missed you so much, darling. No days I was not worried about you." My mom hugged me so tight. Her warm made me feel so safe after being alone for a long time.
"I missed you too, Mama. Where's Papa?" I asked then roamed my eyes around our old-fashioned house that was originally from her great-great-grandfather.
"He's outside buying some goods. He will cook something for you later. Why don't say 'hello' to your grandpa in the backyard first? I'm sure he will be thrilled to see you. He misses you a lot," my mother said then helped me to organize my things in my room.
I sighed as I remember the days when I was a child, this room was originally for my father. Then passes to me when I was 8, I was terrified back then. You know, sleeping alone in this old house was freaking my 8-year-old mind. But nothing happens, it's just my wild imagination.
After cleaning myself and getting enough rest, I decided to meet my grandpa who's still in the backyard. It is nearing dawn and the cold breeze of September started to touch my skin. My grandfather was a retired army, he slowly losing his eyesight because of his age. He is old but quite stronger for his age. He didn't notice me at first, I watched him looking at his old photos when he was a young man. I bet he missed those days.
"It was a long time I can still clearly remember how that young lady saved my wife's life."
I thought he was talking to himself until he looked up at me. I was surprised at first but later, I smiled at him. I sat beside him then also examined the photos. They were very old, and some are almost fading.
"Who's that lady, grandpa? Is she grandma?" I asked him.
He shakes his head. "I don't remember her name anymore, but she is pretty and she's amazing. She was different from other girls in our time. I remember that my best friend was so whipped at her. She got my friend's eyes and heart. But then, she was gone when we came back after surviving a bloody war."
I suddenly felt an unfamiliar pain in my chest when I heard his story. "Why is she suddenly disappeared? Is she dead or went to another place or something like that?"
"We don't know, but I know one thing, my friend was truly devastated at that time. He will cry every night and you know what was weird?" He paused then looked at me. "He would go to a certain dark place and gazed at the night sky."
He handed me an old picture. It was a man holding a guitar. I bit my lips and suddenly, I feel like crying. I caught my breath then gave back the photo to my grandpa.
"This is Henry, my childhood best friend. When we returned home after the war, he decided to quit the military. The last time I heard the news about them was he's getting married. I was so relieved that time, I thought he will be a wreck all of his life. I am glad that he has Sonia." My grandfather started to put the photos in the old box.
He stopped then look at me again. His forehead creased. I was confused about his reaction to me.
"Who are you, young miss?" he suddenly asks.
I smiled. "I am Aliyah, grandpa. I was gone for a very long time. But now, I am here."
"I wished you came back a little earlier," he said, and I was stunned.
What?
"I-I was doing my job, so I can't go home whenever I want. But I will stay for months, I promised to take care of you." I stand up then pushed his wheelchair inside our house because the sun is already set, and the cold wind started to blow harshly.
IN THE DINNER, my father was a bit loud. He was thrilled to see me, and I am too. I missed my family so much. But every time I remembered what grandpa told me earlier, my heart will start to ache as if I have heart disease, but I am physically healthy. I will find it hard to breathe and ended up crying. I was so confused about myself. I never met his best friend Henry and his wife. In fact, I never met grandma too. I have never had an interest in their lives. I never heard their stories.
"What's the matter, dear? Are you not comfortable?" my mother asked me when she notices that I am still awaked. It's already past midnight.
She sat down in my bed, waiting for my answer. I was completely bothered by how Henry man's story affects my whole system.
"Do you know anything about grandpa's best friend?" I asked my mother.
"Hmm, I met him only once. When I about to marry your father. He's a good man, a good-looking man. I was pregnant at that time to you. I just find him weird when he said, 'she's going to be the beautiful and outstanding girl who will capture the heart of a man, and in that time, I was just 2 months pregnant, and your gender was still unknown." My mother shrugged her shoulders.
Who is this man? Who is he?
I was overthinking things, and I can't remember how I fell asleep. I woke up around noon then I decided to organize my things. I started to unpack the things I bought for my family and some close neighbors and friends. I keep distracting myself the whole time. I prevented myself from having even a small talk to my grandfather. Until now, I'm still worried about myself. I was so eager to know more about his best friend.
"Thank you for the visit and your gifts." The old lady smiled at me. I smiled back.
She's the same age as my mother. Their family was close to ours, so my mom and I decided to pay some visits. I drifted my eyes on some large photos hanging on the walls. The is pretty that on ours. The largest one was probably their family picture where an old man and lady sitting, and two people were standing behind them.
My mother was in the restroom when the old lady spoke. "Can you still remember the time you are with him?" she said.
Her words sent shivers down my spine. What is she talking about?
"Huh?" The only word I have managed to say.
"Although he was able to marry my mother and have children with her. I know he never loved her. He never loved my mother because of that one girl." She looked at me.
"Do you remember that time, the time you left him?"
I froze.
Darya spent three years loving Micah, worshipping the ground he walked on. Until his neglect and his family's abuse finally woke her up to the ugly truth-he doesn't love her. Never did, never will. To her, he is a hero, her knight in shining armour. To him, she is an opportunist, a gold digger who schemed her way into his life. Darya accepts the harsh reality, gathers the shattered pieces of her dignity, divorces him, takes back her real name, reclaims her title as the country's youngest billionaire heiress. Their paths cross again at a party. Micah watches his ex-wife sing like an angel, tear up the dance floor, then thwart a lecher with a roundhouse kick. He realises, belatedly, that she's exactly the kind of woman he'd want to marry, if only he had taken the trouble to get to know her. Micah acts promptly to win her back, but discovers she's now surrounded by eligible bachelors: high-powered CEO, genius biochemist, award-winning singer, reformed playboy. Worse, she makes it pretty clear that she's done with him. Micah gears up for an uphill battle. He must prove to her he's still worthy of her love before she falls for someone else. And time is running out.
Lindsey's fiancé was the devil's first son. Not only did he lie to her but he also slept with her stepmother, conspired to take away her family fortune, and then set her up to have sex with a total stranger. To get her lick back, Lindsey decided to find a man to disrupt her engagement party and humiliate the cheating bastard. Never did she imagine that she would bump into a strikingly handsome stranger who was all that she was currently looking for. At the engagement party, he boldly declared that she was his woman. Lindsey thought he was just a broke man who wanted to leech off her. But once they began their fake relationship, she realized that good luck kept coming her way. She thought they would part ways after the engagement party, but this man kept to her side. "We gotta stick together, Lindsey. Remember, I'm now your fiancé. " "Domenic, you're with me because of my money, aren't you?" Lindsey asked, narrowing her eyes at him. Domenic was taken aback by that accusation. How could he, the heir of the Walsh family and CEO of Vitality Group, be with her for money? He controlled more than half of the city's economy. Money wasn't a problem for him! The two got closer and closer. One day, Lindsey finally realized that Domenic was actually the stranger she had slept with months ago. Would this realization change things between them? For the better or worse?
"I stood at the edge of my heart and watched him choose her. In the end, I was not the one he needed. I was simply the one he settled for." - Noelle ~~~~~~~ I thought I was the one he loved. But a few days before our wedding, I saw him in a way I never had before. His eyes softened as he spoke to her. His first love, and the very woman who had left him in pieces. Heartbreak was something I knew too well. And as I watched the love he still held for her in his eyes, I realized what I had to do. I couldn't marry a man who wasn't truly mine. With no means to cancel the wedding and lacking the courage to confront him, I made a desperate choice to leave. I painfully gave his first love my treasured engagement ring thinking it was for the best and the only way to free myself. But when he saw that ring on her finger, the fragile world I had tried to escape began to shatter. His obsession to find me and bring me back ignited a dangerous game of cat and mouse.
Once upon a time, there were two kingdoms once at peace. The kingdom of Salem and the kingdom of Mombana... Until the day, the king of Mombana passed away and a new monarch took over, Prince Cone. Prince Cone, has always been hungry for more power and more and more. After his coronation, he attacked Salem. The attack was so unexpected, Salem never prepared for it. They were caught off guard. The king and Queen was killed, the prince was taken into slavery. The people of Salem that survived the war was enslaved, their land taken from them. Their women were made sex slaves. They lost everything, including their land. Evil befall the land of Salem in form of Prince Cone, and the prince of Salem in his slavery was filled with so much rage. The prince of Salem, Prince Lucien swore revenge. 🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳 Ten years later, thirty-years old Lucien and his people raided a coup and escaped slavery. They went into hiding and recuperated. They trained day and night under the leadership of the fearless and cold Lucien who was driven with everything in him to get back their land, and take Mombana land too. It took them five years before they ambushed and attacked Mombana. They killed Prince Cone and reclaimed everything. As they screamed out their victory, Lucien's eyes found and pinned the proud princess of Mombana. Princess Danika. The daughter of Prince Cone. As Lucien stared at her with the coldest eyes anyone can ever possess, he felt victory for the first time. He walked to the princess with the slave collar he'd won for ten years rattling in his hand as he walked. He reached close to her and with a swift movement, he collared her neck. Then, he tilted her chin up, staring into the bluest eyes and the most beautiful face ever created, he gave her a cold smile. "You are my acquisition. My slave. My sex slave. My property. I will pay you in spades, everything you and your father ever did to me and my people." He stated curtly. Pure hatred, coldness and victory was the only emotion on his face. .
Natalie used to think she could melt Connor’s icy heart, but she was sorely mistaken. When at last she decided to leave, she discovered that she was pregnant. Even so, she chose to quietly leave his world, prompting Connor to mobilize all of his resources and expand his business to a global scale—all in a bid to find her. But there was no trace of Natalie. Connor slowly spiraled into madness, turning the city upside down and leaving chaos in his wake. Natalie finally surfaced years later, with wealth and power of her own, only to find herself entangled with Connor once again.
When Zora was sick during the early days of her pregnancy, Ezrah was with his first love, Piper. When Zora got into an accident and called Ezrah, he said he was busy, when in actual fact, he was buying shoes for Piper. Zora lost her baby because of the accident, and throughout her stay at the hospital, Ezrah never showed up. She already knew that he didn't love her, but that was the last straw for the camel's back, and her fragile heart could not take it anymore. When Ezrah arrived home a few days after Zora was discharged from the hospital, he no longer met the woman who always greeted him with a smile and cared for him. Zora stood at the top of the stairs and yelled with a cold expression, "Good news, Ezrah! Our baby died in a car accident. There is nothing between us anymore, so let's get a divorce." The man who claimed not to have any feelings for Zora, being cold and distant towards her, and having asked her for a divorce twice, instantly panicked.