Jiya,s pov
The car stopped right in front of Alex's house.
Huh?? Grandma's house was supposed to be somewhere else, so why were we here in front of Alex's place?
I saw the car slowly turn into the narrow lane beside Alex's house and then stop right behind it.
There stood a beautiful, single-storey vintage house.
Grandma and her grandson clearly had the same taste—this kind of house looked so stunning.
A single-storey home, with a small pond in front and a little bridge over it. The whole place looked like something straight out of an animation scene.
I saw lots of rabbits, cats, chickens, and even a dog. Then, right in front of me, a goose with its babies waddled down into the little pond. It was so cute.
This house was exactly the kind of place I've always dreamed of living in.
I used to think Alex's house was the only vintage-style home in the area, but now I realized Grandma's house was another one—also vintage—hidden in this neighborhood.
When we entered the house, a butler saw Grandma and said,
"Dilan mam, it's so nice to see you. You've come after such a long time."
Grandma replied,
"Yes, it's been quite a while. I was staying at Addy's place (Addy Astor, Alex and Anisha's father)and I didn't feel very comfortable, so I've come back. From now on, I'll be staying here. Please have two rooms cleaned and prepared, tell Rita to arrange it."
The butler said,
"Okay, ma'am," and left.
Then Grandma looked at me and said,
"This butler has been taking care of this house since the time I got married."
Grandma asked, "Do you like this place?" I smiled and said, "Yes, it's very beautiful. Such a beautiful place. No one would believe that there could be a house like a fairy tale inside the city. Actually, not just one, but two — Alex's houses." We all sat on the sofa. Anisha was talking on the phone. The best thing is everyone at Alex's house speaks English. It's very convenient for me because I can understand well.
Anisha said, "Grandma, I have a shoot today. I have to leave now but will come back later. Bye, Grandma. Bye, Jiya."
Oh, what will happen to my job with Bob Sir?
I said, "Anisha ma'am, I haven't told Bob Sir anything. Could you please send him a message from my phone about my bad health? I can't use the phone myself."
Anisha said, "Just call me Anisha. Don't worry, I'm going to the agency now.I'll properly explain about your illness."
I said, "Okay, thank you."
Anisha said, "Okay, bye everyone," and then left.
Grandma told me, "Come, let me take you to your room. You should rest."
I went to my room. It was a very beautiful room. There was a big window along one wall. The room had a soft pink vibe. I sat on the bed. Grandma said, "I've sent the nurse to help you change your dress. Now rest. Later we will talk a lot together. Now rest, my dear child."
She kissed my forehead. Grandma is so good, so very good. Then she left.
The nurse came to help me change my dress. She gave me medicine, and I took it. Then I lay on the bed facing the window. Outside, the birds were chirping, a whole flock of birds was flying by.
I felt very good. I don't know why, but I felt a lot of peace.
I don't even know when I fell asleep. When I woke up, it was 8 o'clock at night. I slowly got up from the bed. The nurse helped me freshen up.
I went outside the room. I saw a wall near the drawing room with a glass door. In front of it, Grandma was sitting on a traditional rocking chair, wearing glasses and using her phone.
I went close and sat down on the floor near grandma's feet. Grandma said, "Don't sit on the floor, sit beside me." I smiled and said, "I like sitting right here." Grandma put down the phone, took off her glasses and looked at me, then asked, "How are you?"
That's what kind of question? I said, "As you can see, I'm just like this, fine."
Grandma said, "No, your body and condition might be okay, but your mind is in a much worse state."
How did she say that so rightly? Actually, I am feeling very bad.
Grandma said, "Anyway, tell me something about your family. Do you have brothers or sisters? How many members are there in your family?"
Slowly, I started to open up and tell everything. Father, mother, Sofy. No other family members take care of us except uncle, and even that I told her. How Sofy helped me to come here, I told everything in detail except about Alex.
After hearing everything, grandma said, "Now tell me something about me. I am not the real grandma of Alex and Anisha."
Huh? What is this? I looked at grandma in surprise.
Grandma said, "Your surprise is natural. I am I am Alex's grandma's elder sister. Addy,s mother are my own younger sister. When Alex and Anisha were six years old, my sister passed away. Since then Alex and Anisha call me grandma."
Actually, the Astor family is very well known in the entertainment world of the Philippines.
Normally, I only knew about Alex's father, mother, and Anisha.
Grandma said, "This house you see—it's Alex's grandma's own house. Whenever I stay here, it feels like my little sister is still with me. Only when I grew older did I truly understand how painful it is to lose a younger sister. The day she died… And there's nothing much to say about our family. Outsiders see us as always happy—well, that's exactly what our family looks like from the outside.
So tell me, does my little bird have a boyfriend?"
Me: "No, Grandma." I smiled.
Grandma: "Do you like anyone?"
Me: "Yes, I do."
I pointed to the moon with my hand. "I like that moon."
Right then, someone sat down on my left side. I turned—and saw Alex ❤️. I was looking at him, and he sat beside me, gazing at the moon. Just looking at him made tears roll down my eyes.
Grandma said, "You came at the perfect time, Alex. Dinner's ready—come, let's eat together."
I lowered my gaze.
Alex: "What were you two talking about?"
Grandma: "Oh, that's a secret between me and Jiya. But you know what, Alex? Jiya likes the moon."
Me: "Grandma?"
Grandma: "Alright, alright, I won't tell him anything else. Come on, everyone, let's go to the dining table now."
Me: "Won't Anisha be joining us?"
Alex: "She was really tired and went straight home."
The three of us sat at the dining table. A housemaid was serving me. Alex was sitting right across from me, but I couldn't look at him—people would start imagining things. Normally, everyone was just eating quietly, but when I glanced at Alex and then quickly looked down again, a bite of food got stuck in my throat.
I started coughing badly. Grandma handed me some water. Alex was looking at me. Tears came out of my eyes from coughing so hard. It took a while before I finally stopped.
After dinner, Alex got up to leave for his house. I looked at him one last time.
Inner voice: "With this kind of behavior, one day you'll get caught."
Me: "Even if I get caught, Alex will never be mine."
From behind me, Grandma asked, "Do you like the moon, or do you love it?"
Did she just figure something out? Or maybe not…
Me: "Nothing like that, Grandma. You should go to bed—it's really late."
Grandma laughed. "Alright, alright."
I saw Alex coming back into the house again. I was surprised to see him and sat down on a chair.
Alex: "Grandma, where did I put the house keys?"
Grandma: "Look around here, you must've left them nearby."
After searching for a while, Alex found them. Then he said, "Where did I put my phone?"
Grandma: "You're already forgetting things now—what will you do when you reach our age?"
Alex was still looking for his phone. I got up from the chair to help him. As soon as I stood up, Alex came near the chair and said, "Grandma, your little bird was sitting on my phone."
I had no idea at all. Since I was sitting on the chair and the phone was on it, I went over to pick it up. I saw the screen was on, and there was Alina's conversation open on WhatsApp. Because the screen was touch-sensitive, my sitting there had caused random letters like "hjbvdcnmj" to be typed—and it had actually been sent.
Alex came over, took the phone, gave me an angry look, and left.
"Why does he behave like this with me sometimes?"