Tick.Tock. Tick.Tock.
The sound of the grandfather clock broke the quiet in the room. The room was bathed in moonlight through the panorama windows of the apartment. Sitting in front of the windows was a woman in her 20's. Dark red hair, the color of ripened apples with the ends tipped in rose gold she looked like a queen. Tall with skin like cream and gorgeous legs. She was a a picture of serenity but for her eyes, the colour of topaz burned with determination. This woman was none other than the mysterious fashion designer and owner of Mode Luxury and Colorway, Esmeralda Ford. She rose to fame 4 years ago after she made her debut at the London Fashion Week as the youngest designer. She was a part of the Ford Family who were famous in the financial trading world. She was the adopted daughter of Jameson and Madeline Ford, the CEO and founder of Black Fox Finance Company. They adopted her when she was 6 years old from the orphanage from what she could remember since she was 3. They brought her back to the family mansion where she was introduced to their children, Mark and Sarah Ford. Mark was the oldest by 4 years while Sarah was a year older. Mark and Esmeralda got along well each other and he cherished her a lot unlike with Sarah where she ended up fighting with her constantly on every issue under the sun. Their relationship took a turn for the worst when Sarah had drugged her and shoved her into the arms of Grey Anderson, the CEO of Ander Corp, a finance stock trading group and a close friend of the Ford Family. As a result, she was removed as the heir of the company and forced into marriage with him. Those 4 years were hell. He was cold and brutal to her. She was subjected to unwarranted abuse and eventually locked up unable to step out and live her life. Sarah stole all her designs and made them under her name. She knew then Sarah did this to curb her and put her in her place as the adopted daughter and nothing more. These circumstances led her to the situation she was in now. She stared out of the window wondering what she should do to get out of the house she was locked up in. She missed her adopted parents and Mark as well as her birth family. She regretted not finding them. She got up sighing and laid down on the bed staring at the ceiling. Time went by and she suddenly sat up. Something nagged her. Trusting her instincts, she looked up to see the room bathed in an orange glow outside. Rushing to the window, what greeted her was a sea of fire. She ran to open the door only to see smoke enter and blind her. She coughed and fell. Her vision blurred and she began crawling to find her escape route but couldn't. It was then she heard voices. " Darling, let's go. we have finally done it. She is going to die and we can live happily ". Sarah. This stunned her. Esmerlda was floored by the venom in her voice. " My dear, once we leave we'll get married. You are the only I love. She is nothing to me". Tears ran down her face at Grey's statement. " I love you honey. Let's go. I am tried". With that, the voices became lower and lower until she couldn't hear them anymore. The smoke began to grow thicker and fire entered the room burning it. Weak, she collapsed. 'God, if you can hear my prayer, I promise that I will make Sarah and Grey pay for what they did with their blood. I want to find my family and rebuild my friendships. Give me a second chance !!! ". Black spots entered her vision, her eyes shut closed and she took her final breath succumbing to the darkness.