MasukLiora. Fashion was a language that I understood even before I knew what the name truly meant. I didn't know when my love for fashion and design really grew; it was a place that I found myself in, a place that I absolutely loved. In the past, when I felt like the world was truly crushing on me, I used to find peace in fabrics, needles and sewing machines. In the orphanage, we had a seamstress, a lady responsible for mending our torn clothes. Over the years that I had stayed in the orphanage, I had spent more time in her small, scrawny office than in the dormitory. I was very young then, but I was able to learn the basics from her. Even after so long, I could still remember how I had one day begged her to let me use her machine. And when she'd finally relented, my legs could barely reach the manual foot control. I had then burst into tears, a ball of frustration, for failing to utilise the golden chance. 'Auntie? I will one day own a big fashion house.' I didn't know w
Liora. Because I wasn't his choice.... I swallowed bitterly as I thought, the realisation further ruining my mood. I didn't have a powerful family behind me. I didn't have the same social standing as him... But did that mean my fate was sealed, and I had to accept whatever fate brought my way? Did that mean I was supposed to remain at the bottom forever? "No!" I muttered under my breath, my fingers tightly clenched. I was done being someone that everyone looked down on. I was done being that easy to dismiss, to overlook. Capital Elite had provided me with an opportunity to rise from the ashes, and I was going to take it. I was going to be a force that everyone had no option but to bow to. So what if I were an orphan? I was not going to allow those statuses to define me. They had defined me for twenty years. Not anymore. With those thoughts, a smile, ghostly and almost serene, tacked at the corners of my lips. Slowly, I unclenched my fingers before I closed my eye
Liora "Your Aunt Astra and I need to talk," Soren stated, his voice deep and firm, leaving no room for arguments. For a moment, I was too shocked to even react, and when I finally snapped out of it, words betrayed me. Slowly, my gaze moved between Soren and Aunt Astra, silently asking questions that I couldn't voice out. Well, the two were too roped into whatever tension that pulsed between them to notice. At the end, I only pursed my lips, rose from the chair and slowly left the room, heading to the exit. At the door, I clenched and unclenched my nails as I stood there, hesitantly, the curious part of me begging me to linger a little longer and listen, while the decent part of me urged me to leave. At the end, I stood a few inches from the cracked door, my ears perked, as I shamelessly waited, if only to catch a few words, just to satisfy my curiosity. " What are you doing here, Mom?" Just then, Soren's familiar voice cut through the cracked door, and my hand imme
Liora. "Do you two know each other?" I asked, curiosity flickering in my eyes. I didn't know why I decided to ask. Maybe because of the thinly veiled tension that pulsed between the two? Or, was it because of how they kept on staring at each other?... yeah. That. Coupled with how they resembled each other. For a moment, at my question, Soren froze, his hand, which was holding a folk, faltering, but only briefly. And, watching all that, then adding my earlier doubts, I was halfway convinced that my doubts were real. "What do you think?" After a moment of silence, Soren asked, his features straight and all composed, giving nothing away. For a moment, my resolve wavered, and I began questioning my own logic. Coming to think of it, maybe I was just overthinking, or maybe there was something the two weren't saying. Either way, did it even matter? Thinking about it was clearly pointless. Besides, it was not like I knew much about Aunt Astra either. For the years that we had kn
Liora. "How do you know her?" The fork was a few inches from my lips when Soren asked, his voice deep and unreadable, and I froze, just momentarily, before a smile bloomed on my lips. Slowly, I placed the spoon back on the plate before I turned to face him, my eyes watering as memories from years ago resurfaced in my mind. "She and I have known each other for close to two decades now," I whispered, my voice all shaky. "Two decades." He wore a distant face as he repeated, as if he was trying to figure something out. Well, he also looked intrigued, and I took it as if he wanted to know more about me, my past and such. So, I went on. "She is kind and loving. If I were to make a wish, I would want to be her daughter in the next life, maybe?" I whispered, then I laughed at how silly that sounded. "We met under very strange circumstances," I added, a mocking smile tagging at the corners of my lips. Before, my life in the orphanage was genuinely horrible, but that was all.
Liora. "What are we celebrating this time?" Aunt Astra asked, her eyes moving to Soren, who stood a few meters away, looking out of place. "Love?" before I could respond, she asked, and heat flooded my cheeks. Were we truly celebrating love? That sounded... warm? The thought itself had me blushing. "A lot of things!" After recomposing myself, I added, my features softening as I recalled all the good things that had happened to me recently. There was the baby, the graduation, the job, and maybe.... Love.. The thought had my hand immediately flying to my chest, as if trying to steady it. " This is Soren...." At the end, I couldn't bring myself to say all those things to Aunt Astra, and instead, I introduced Soren, my eyes softening as I looked at him. The fact that he had decided to follow me all the way in didn't fail to surprise me. Did he care about me... that much? "My husband," I added, and at the introduction, sounding so warm, so real, my cheeks heated up,
Liora. A deep and pounding headache yanked me awake, and I stirred groggily from my sleep. Deep silence stretched heavily in the room, not the usual calming silence, but the kind that buzzed deep into your scalp. My body felt weak, fatigued, like I'd been run over by a speeding truck. An
Liora. I couldn't believe that I had been working at Capital Elite for two weeks, and surprisingly, the experience was much smoother than I had expected. Capital Elite was a high-pressure space, and it took more than just talent and skills to survive there. At some point, people joked that
Liora. Outside, the air was still the same, cold, just the way I liked it, and yet, I didn't get the familiar comfort it used to give. The snow was falling, Christmas lights flickered, merry Christmas songs weaved softly in the air, cars passed by, hooting, honking, and my eyes stung just f
Liora Quinn Christmas had always been my favourite season, and I couldn't exactly explain why. Maybe it was about the calm in the air, the soul-soothing Christmas songs, the fairytale-like snow drifting lazily through the air, or, maybe, it was about the cosy Christmas nights Tavian and I spen







