Zia's hand reached out to search for something when she was awakened by the sound of endless messages and calls, as if whoever was calling her now, was trying to get her attention in any way.
But, it's too early for anything to happen, right? Zia stared at her phone screen with sleepy eyes and saw dozens of messages and missed calls.
?
What's really going on? Did something important happen?
While rubbing her face to get rid of her sleepiness a bit, Zia opened the first message, which immediately answered her question.
Her eyes widened when she read the message.
The first thing she saw was a link sent by her friends in the group chat as well as their mostly inquiring messages;
'Is that you Zia?'
'The person in the photo looks a lot like you.'
'Are you related to Aidan Smith?'
'Are you the woman everyone has been talking about?'
When reading the messages, Zia's heart started beating fast. She could sense a bad feeling gripping her nerves when she opened the news link.
But, in any case she had to know what was really going on first.
Thus, with trembling fingers, Zia pressed the link her friends had sent and gasped when she saw the photo of herself and Aidan.
Of course it was her, even now Zia still remembered when the photo was taken. It was a photo taken on her birthday, two years ago.
And although Zia's face was not clearly visible as it was blurred, those close to her would immediately know that it was her from her body shape and hairstyle.
Therefore, her friends who often interacted with her immediately recognized that the woman in the photo was Zia.
Zia's hands trembled violently and her breath turned ragged, she then pushed the phone away from her as if the small object burned her skin.
"No way…" Zia mumbled, denying any of that had happened to her. "Impossible…"
Sobs started to escape her lips as she tried to deny the reality she had to face now. Zia then sat down, hugging herself, staring at her phone, wishing it was gone along with the terrible news that had just been released.
But, of course it was just an empty wish that couldn't possibly come true.
Zia's whole body trembled violently, her head felt heavy and her eyes began to lose focus while looking around her, as if the world was spinning fast.
Zia closed her eyes and pressed her ringing ears with her palms. She had to think of something. She had to do something. But what? What could she do at a time like this?
Aidan…
It was the first name that came to her mind. She had to contact Aidan and make sure that the man had known of this news. He had to know this news and remove it. Aidan said he would take care of this matter.
It took Zia quite a while to muster up her courage and retrieve her phone. She looked for Aidan's name on her call list, but it was difficult to do so with her trembling fingers.
Once she finally connected to the number, how disappointed and scared Zia was when she found out that the number was no longer active.
What was this? Wasn't it just last night that they talked on the phone? Why is the number no longer active? Did his phone just run out of battery?
Zia tried to think positively, it's just that it's hard to do in the middle of her frantic mind.
'Call me ASAP.'
Finally, Zia left a message, hoping Aidan would see it soon before calling her back.
But, right now Zia needed someone. She couldn't face this alone. She thought she would go crazy if it continued like this. This was the worst morning Zia had ever had in her entire life.
Hailee…
Only that name came to Zia's mind. She didn't realize she had been in contact with her cousin just recently, and forgot about their little fight that happened at the end of the two's conversation the other day.
The quarrel occurred because Zia did not want to hear any advice regarding her relationship with Aidan.
Zia didn't know how long she tried, but she finally managed to contact Hailee and her cousin's sleepy voice greeted her.
Zia couldn't contain her feelings anymore as she started to speak in her trembling voice. "Hailee, what should I do?" Zia cried uncontrollably.
"Zia?" Hailee called out, this time her voice didn't sound too hoarse, it seemed like Zia's crying had really woken her up. "What is it? What happened?"
"Hailee, what should I do?" Zia repeated the sentence amidst her sobs that turned into hysterics. "What should I do Hailee?"
"Calm down… tell me, tell me what's wrong?" Hailee asked in a worried tone of voice.
However, it was hard for Zia to say it out loud, as if the words were caught in her throat and made her gasp for air.
What should Zia say? That the photo of her and Aidan was being circulated in the media? Half-naked pictures of her? How could she deal with the people out there? They must have recognized her right away.
And her father...
Zia's tears grew even more uncontrollable as she thought about how her father would react if he found out about this.
Not. His father would surely know this. It's all just a matter of time…
"Hailee… help me… help me…" Zia repeated desperately.
"Calm down Zia… tell me where you are first. I'm going there now." Hailee became panicked because she had never seen Zia like this. "Are you at home? Tell me, where are you? I'm going there now."
It took Hailee a while to get the exact location where Zia was and when she got it, she didn't have to wait long to meet her cousin.
"I'll be there… wait for me, okay?" After making sure Zia heard what she said, Hailee immediately got out of bed and rushed over.
"What is it? Where are you going?" Ramon, who had just come out after taking a shower, caught Hailee's hand and pulled her to sit back down. "What happened?"
"Zia…" Hailee was at a loss to explain this matter, because she herself didn't know what was going on. "Zia called me and she was crying." Hailee shook her head vigorously, as if trying to think more rationally. "Zia has never cried like this Ramon… something must have happened to her."
As if knowing what had happened, Ramon took out Hailee's cell phone and showed her the article that morning.
"This…" Hailee gasped when she saw the photo. It didn't even take her more than a second to figure out that it was Zia.
"I guess this is what happened to her."
New novel chapt𝒆rs are published on free(w)ebnovel(.)com