Chapter 31: Forbidden Room.

The next morning Dua woke up first, she looked at Steven who was still sleeping peacefully with her in his embrace. As she watched him, she remembered their discussion the previous night and she sighed. "What really happened to you?" She thought.

Her hand slowly moved to his hair and she pat it gently with a smile on her face.

"You really can't stay still." Steven spoke and she quickly retracted her hand from his hair.

"Why do I always wake up late whenever I sleep with you?" He said, sitting up and she chuckled.

"That's because you sleep peacefully whenever you sleep with me," she replied.

"And it'll continue that way, I'll keep helping you fall asleep," she continued.

Steven scoffed, "are you sure you can? That's a lifetime commitment."

"No, it's not... It's just for the time I'm gonna be with you," she replied.

He scoffed again, "did you come back with me just to leave quickly again?"

"No...but if Diane returns one day, I have to leave. She's your rightful wife," she replied.

They stayed in silence, each person in their world of thoughts. Dua's phone rang, piercing through the silence. "Excuse me," she said and left the bedroom with her phone.

"Hi, Denise," she answered the call.

"Are you gonna tell us what's going or not, sis?" Denise said.

Dua sighed, "I will but it's not gonna be over the phone."

"So when do we expect you?" Denise asked.

"Definitely not today." Dua replied.

"Send my regards to mom and Desmond," she added.

"They're listening to you." Denise replied.

"Oh," Dua wasn't expecting that. "I'll talk to you guys later. Bye for now," she said and ended the call.

She sighed, knowing that her family's heads are in chaos thinking if she's gone crazy or not.

She went to the kitchen, then headed to the storeroom, looking at the foodstuffs.

"Please tell me you're not about to do what I think you're about to do," she heard Shane's voice behind her.

He thought she was trying to plan what to cook.

With a chuckle, she turned, "no, I'm not." And Shane chuckled too.

"Good morning," he said.

"Good morning," she replied.

"Your husband is late today." Shane said, looking at the empty dinning table.

"Yeah, and you two are gonna have to organize your breakfast. I have to rush down to the company now," Steven said, walking into the kitchen in a haste.

"Oh, come on." Shane complained.

"I'll make it up to you with dinner." Steven assured him as he took out a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Good." Shane replied and Dua chuckled as Steven left the kitchen.

"So what do we eat, I'll order?" Shane asked.

"Anything you have in mind." Dua replied.

"What I have in mind is hot spicy noodles filled with lots of veggies. I hope you don't mind," he said.

"I don't," she replied.

"Okay then," he said, being busy on his phone. "Call me when the order arrives. I have to go get ready for work," he continued.

"You're leaving too? Leaving me all alone," she sulked.

Shane playfully pinched her cheek, "don't worry, I'll be back in an hour or two," he said and she nodded and he left.

By the time the order arrived, Shane was in the living room all dressed up for work. He paid for the order and picked one plate, stepping out immediately. "Bye," he wished Dua.

"You're not even gonna eat with me?" Dua asked.

"Sorry, dear, I have to go," he replied and left, leaving Dua sighing.

"Now I'm the latest edition of Home Alone," she laughed.

She ate her breakfast while watching a movie and afterwards took her bath and returned to the movie again.

It was passed two hours and Shane wasn't back yet. "He's indeed back in an hour or two," she hissed.

Being bored with nothing else to do, she decided to take a tour around the house.

As she stood up to begin her tour, a text came into her phone from a number named Alex. "Why have you been ignoring me?"

"Ignore you? Me?" She asked like the person could hear her.

"I can only ignore who I know, who are you?" She texted back.

In a few seconds she received a reply, "this is how you wanna play, right? Fine!"

After reading the text she scoffed. "Hey, Diane! Why are you surrounded with people who are basically gibberish?" She hissed.

She began her tour in the house, and when she got to the second floor, she remembered Steven's words. "Last room on the left on the second floor, no one is allowed to enter, especially you. Last room on the right on the second floor is my study. Except I call you, you're not allowed to enter."

But her curiosity got the better of her and she walked to the last room on the left. She stopped at the door and Steven's words rang in her head again but she pushed it aside and went in.

The room was dark, so she quickly reached for the switch and turned on the lights.

The room was large and beautiful, decorated with different kinds of flowers. Some pasted on the wall, some scattered on the floor, and some on the bed. Above the bed on the wall, hung a painting of a woman with looks identical to hers. And beneath the painting was the name "Crystal."

As she looked closer at the painting, her legs moving her to it, she suddenly felt dizzy, her head banging like crazy. She held her head in pain and slowly retracted out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

She went to the living room and laid on the couch and Shane was just coming into the house. "Hi," he announced his presence to her.

"Look who's here after one or two hours," she said sarcastically and Shane chuckled.

"I know. I'm sorry," he said.

Seeing Dua hold her head, he asked, "are you alright?"

"Asides a little headache, I'm fine," she replied.

"I'll be back," he said and went upstairs.

He came back after a few minutes, dressed in casual wear, with a cup of water and a pack of pain relief pills. He administered it to her and she drank it, thanking him immediately after.

"So any other thing?" He asked as he picked up the remote to turn on the television.

"Yes," she gave a measured reply. "Who is Crystal?" She asked and the remote dropped from Shane's hand.

"Please tell me you didn't go into the forbidden room," he said.

"I did," she replied.

"Why did you...you know what, forget it. For now we have to make sure Steven never finds out," he said.

"Make sure Steven never finds out about what?" Steven asked as he entered the house.