The news hit Nikolai like a thunderbolt, jolting his senses and freezing him in disbelief. In that split second, time seemed to stand still as the glass of wine he held slipped his hand and shattered into a thousand pieces on the floor. Shock surged through his veins, leaving him momentarily paralyzed, his heart pounding in his chest. Adira was equally shocked. Ophelia was his ex-girlfriend, and Jagger was the man that had abducted them ten years ago. Hold on; how were they back? "What're you.... talking about?" He asked with a voice draped in disbelief. His eyes were wide open in astonishment. "It's...it's all over the news, Nikolai." Bellamy spoke. "They said she just showed up at the station with Jagger. Jagger has been locked up, but Ophelia is home with her parents to receive medical care. So far, she was too shocked to drop a comment about what happened.""She returned with Jagger?" Adira's face crumpled up. "You mean... Jagger intentionally showed himself? He's a wanted criminal, right? Why would he willingly show himself to the authorities?" "That is what we do not fully understand for now. But it's so awesome that Ophelia is back. I mean, we all thought she was dead! My goodness!" Bellamy exclaimed. Immediately, Nikolai rose to his feet and darted into the house. Adira and the rest followed him. He got into the room, grabbed his car keys and began heading out again. "Are you... are you going out?" Adira asked when he approached his car. "I need to see Ophelia." He responded hastily. He opened the front door of his car, got in. And quickly, Adira, Bellamy and Finn joined him in the car. They drove out of the building together. ...Nikolai's fingers clutched the steering wheel with a vice-like grip as he raced down the road. His heart pounded heavily against his chest, he couldn't even restrict his anxiety from being obvious. How was Ophelia back? He thought she was dead? He had seen her...die. He was right there. So, how was she back? And with Jagger? A tumultuous torrent of questions waged war in his mind, but he concluded he'd feel a lot better when he sees Ophelia. He'll get the answers he needs. After what seemed like forever to him, he arrived at her family's mansion and passed through the securities at the gate after they recognized him. They were few people outside,all discussing lightly. And as soon as Nikolai and his people left the car, they shifted their attention to them. Ophelia was nowhere in sight, but her mother was outside and she bolted towards them the moment she caught sight of them. "Nikolai..." "Where's she? I need to speak to Ophelia. Is she really here?" Nikolai asked hastily, his eyes hinting so much impatience. The mid-fifty woman sighed lightly. "The rumours are true. Ophelia is here, but I'm afraid you can't see her at the moment." "Why? You know this is important, Joyce." Bellamy asked. "I know, but she's refused to see or speak to anyone at the moment. I believe tomorrow will be a better time." Nikolai was caught in the grip of disbelief as reality eluded his grasp. He couldn't believe the news was actually true. Ophelia was really back. "Tell her it's me. I'm certain she'll make an exception." He said in ragged breaths. Joyce shook her head slowly at him. "I'm sorry, but she was specific about you. She could manage speaking to anyone else, but not you, Nikolai." "What?" Bellamy scoffed.Nikolai's brows furrowed in surprise. She was specific about not seeing him? How could she? "Look, I understand how you feel, but I've been away from my daughter for ten years now, and the last thing I wanna do is get her all worked up. I don't even know what happened yet and I can't wait to know. But for now, I need to do everything I can to aid her recovery. So, I'm sorry, Nikolai; but you really need to leave." She walked out on them. Nikolai was stunned. What on earth was happening? "Something's definitely wrong." Finn noted. "Why would Ophelia request not to speak with you? How's she back all of a sudden after so many years?" Nikola's words were trapped within the tempest of his thoughts. Adira noticed this and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't think too much on this. I'm sure you'll get answers by morning." She cooed. But he said nothing. He walked away from them, returning to the car.*** The rest of the people at home had already gotten the news, and as soon as they returned home, Mr. Vincent, Thatcher and the rest were already waiting in the sitting room. Mr. Thatcher was on his wheelchair as usual, his medicated glasses on. "What is going on, Nik?" Mr. Thatcher was the first to ask. "What is this news I'm hearing about Ophelia? Ten years ago, you sounded so sure that she was dead. You said you saw her die in the arms of Jagger. So, how's she alive and back?" As he spoke, Adira noticed the old man was looking at Finn instead. She instantly realized he was mistaking Finn for Nikolai. Over the weeks, his eye sight had gotten pretty bad. They couldn't understand why that was happening as they were certain it wasn't a symptom of the cancer he was suffering from. "Nikolai, talk to us." Mr. Vincent chipped in. "What is going on? How is Ophelia back?" Nikolai's cold gaze was on the floor the whole time. "I have no idea." He mumbled and took the stairs. "He's quite confused as well." He heard his mother explain from behind. "We went over to her house to speak with her, but she wouldn't see him or anyone else." She pulled herself to a seat, trying to fight the tears that blinded her eyes. "Why is he back? I thought he was gone for good. Why can't he just leave us alone?" She sniffed. Nikolai got to the room and Adira came in almost immediately. He was seated on the bed, his head lowered into his palms. She approached him gently, sitting beside him. "She fell off the cliff." He muttered, his head still cradled in his palms. "Shs was shot and fell off the cliff. I saw it happen." "Hey," she threw a hand over his shoulder. "I told you, don't get worked up with this. For now, let's consider it a miracle that she's alive and back. That's the only thing that should matter." Nikolai was still perturbed. She gently lifted his head from his palms and made him rest on her chest instead. "It's going to be fine." She cooed. "Believe me." ****†****†****†****† Morning arrived like a fleeting whisper. Since it was weekend, Adira and Nikolai didn't wake up as early as they used to. So, they stayed longer in bed, although they were hardly sleeping. When it was time for breakfast, one of the house servants came up to call them down for it. "That's strange." Adira commented after the lady left. "What's strange?" Nikolai asked tiredly, sitting up. "Yvonne has always been the one to call us down for breakfast." She paused and looked around. "And now I think of it, I haven't seen her since last night. Did you?" Nikolai shrugged. "I barely pay attention to the maids." Adira found it strange. She reached for her phone and tried calling her line, but it was unreachable. "It's possible she went out to grab something. I'm sure she'll be back." Nikolai told her, and she shrugged it off before leaving the bed. They freshened up in the bathroom and went downstairs together. But getting there, they noticed the entire family was in the sitting room, not the dining. They were seemingly engrossed in the television. Nikolai's brows creased when he realized Ophelia's was the one on Tv. "What's going on?" Adira scoffed. Ophelia was on TV, seemingly granting an interview to a news station. And she was in tears. Her return was a big deal because her parents held political power. When she went missing, it had gone viral back then. So, her return was hitting the news as well. But, what was she saying on TV? "It came as the biggest shock to me when he pulled the trigger." she whimpered. "I loved and trusted him so much. And trust me, you don't even want to imagine how shocked I was when he pulled that trigger on me." "So... you're trying to say Nikolai Kensington tried to kill you ten years ago?" The interviewer asked, unable to conceal the shock on his face. With a sniff, Ophelia confirmed: "Yes."