THREE YEARS LATER.

Cressida's plane landed minutes ago, and she had just gotten past the gate area when her phone dinged. It was a message from her father, Howard.

"I'll send the butler to come get you" she sighed and returned the phone to her pocket. Her formerly long hair was cut to shoulder-length and was back to its original color; Black

A black limousine stopped in front of her. She scrunched up her face when she saw the family butler, a man in his mid-forties alight.

"A limo? You've got to be kidding me"

"Welcome back ma'am" he was all smiles.

"Hello Robert. I've always told you to call me by my name. I have one, remember?"

He nodded and shut the door when she hopped in.

"And why a limo? Isn't this too showy?"

"Your father told me to. He probably wanted to give you a flashy welcome"

She shook her head.

"Isn't it nice to be back?" She looked out the window, watching as buildings zoomed by.

"Not quite" she whispered.

"What did you say?"

"Why don't you just focus on driving, Robert?"

Her phone lit up again. It was another message but from an unknown number. It had only two sentences and were written in upper-case letters.

"WELCOME BACK"

Her brows furrowed. Only few people knew she was coming back. Amy, Robert, her father and her step-brother. If her step-brother knew, then his mother was going to be aware.

She wondered if the message was from Amy, but why did she not message with her number? Something about the text felt eerie.

Roberts voice distracted her. "We are here"

She nodded at the servants who greeted her and stopped walking when she saw her father from the stairs.

"Hello dad" she said half-heartedly.

"Welcome back. How—"

She cut him short. "I'm jet-lagged. I need to rest" Without saying another word, she sidestepped him and went to her room. She never wanted to come back to this house, but she had no choice.....for now. The moment her mother died, this place wasn't home to her anymore. She met Kevin, her step-brother, on the way and they utterly ignored each other. It had always been like this, even before she went to college. They were like strangers living in the same house. He reeked of alcohol. Amy had told her all about him while she was away. Kevin was a notorious playboy in the city. He frequented bar and became an alcoholic.

All this started after his parents' messy divorce.

She had seen it on the news. Few years ago, her father had divorced Diana her step-mother on the grounds of adultery. The news made the headlines, and she was thankful no one in the school knew she was born into that family.

She arrived at her room, closed her eyes and breathed in deeply before turning the knob.

It was just as she had left it, but it was clean. She took a minute staring at the bed trying not get consumed into that horrible memory.

She called in a servant and instructed her to have the bedding changed.

She stayed in her room all day until a servant came to inform her it was time for dinner. Cressida would rather not have dinner with those two, so she instructed that her dinner be brought to her.

However, the girl returned minutes later, informing her that her father wanted her downstairs.

Father and son were seated at the dining table when she got there. Kevin was preoccupied with his phone.

"Have a seat. Kevin, get rid of that phone" her father warned sternly. She sat down silently and they started eating. She found it very difficult to get food down with these two seated with her.

She received a message from Amy.

"Want to have some fun tonight?"

She wasn't fond of going out at night but right now, she loved anything that will get her out of the house.

"Sure"

She went to her room to get changed.

"I'm going out" she said, not intending to listen to his reply.

She received another text from Amy.

"I'm outside your house"

She went to the entrance but didn't see her. She heard a car horn and squinted her eyes to see the driver.

Amy open the car door and waved her hand.

"I'm here"

Cressida made her way to the car.

"Welcome back. I missed you"

Amy gave her a bear hug and smooches all over her face realizing too late she was wearing lipstick, thereby leaving red lip marks on her face.

"Oh my God! I forgot about that" Any looked into the mirror. "My lipstick is almost gone"

Cressida shook her head. Her friend was worried about her lipstick and not the mess on her face.

Amy handed her a wipe. Amy Davis was a petite girl with curly hair. She had doe eyes and an oval face. Her brown eyes match the color of her hair. She was a year older than Cressida even though people find that very hard to believe.

At the early stages of their lives, they were neighbors until her father had a breakthrough in his business and they moved. But they still kept in touch until present.

"Since when did you buy a car?"

"Today"

Cressida stared at her.

"Fine. I rented it. I didn't know you were going to agree to come out with me. I thought you hated nightlife"

"I have no choice. I just want to get out of that house"

"You have to get used to it. It's your home"

"I'm getting an apartment, hopefully soon. Start the car"

They arrived at a bar. Amy ordered a glass of beer.

"Four shots of Aunt Roberta please"

"Are you crazy? It's 100% alcoholic"

"I know that. I would rather not return to that house sober" She remembered something. "Did you send this message?" She showed Amy the message she had gotten earlier. "No. I didn't. You don't know who sent it?"

She already guessed it wasn't Amy but hearing her confirm it, the sense of foreboding became even stronger.

She downed a shot that just arrived, scrunching up her face as she felt the burning sensation.

Amy looked on worriedly. "Are you sure you can handle it?"

"I can" She could feel her head spinning with just one shot.

Her phone buzzed. It was another message from the unknown number.

"I'M WATCHING YOU"

Her heart pounded. She turned around sharply, looking around her to see if anyone was suspicious but no one seemed to care. They were all going about their business.

"Cressida? Is something wrong?"

It took her a while to respond.

"No"

She downed another shot, then another, cringing.

She turned to the bartender. "Where is the restroom?"

He showed her the route.

"I'm going with you" Any stood up.

"Stay here. I'll be right back. I promise"

At the same bar in a VIP room, Cedric sat with his legs crossed, a glass of vodka in his hand. He was there with a few executives.

He stood up and went out. No one dared to ask if he was leaving.

On his way out, he saw a lady in the hallway, staggering. She was obviously drunk. She made a turn, and he caught a glimpse of her side profile. He could hardly forget that face.

He wasn't sure it was her. Her hair was blonde and long.

Then he saw a figure in black follow her. Someone was tailing her.

"Who are you?" The person ran as he spoke. He didn't bother to follow them and went to the direction the girl had gone.

He looked around but didn't find her. He turned to leave and was almost hit by a six-inch heel. Luckily, he avoided it on time and knocked it off her hand.

"It's you, isn't it? The creepy stalker"

She tried to fight him, but she was sloppy because she was intoxicated.

He got a good look at her face. It was her. She didn't change at all except that she looked a bit more mature with her new hairstyle.

He was too deep in his thoughts that he didn't realize she was targeting what was between his legs.

She raised her legs and hit him in the groin. He groaned loudly, and let go off her.

She picked up her shoe and ran, falling about ten times till she met Amy halfway.

"Where have you been? I went to the restroom and didn't find you"

"Let us get out of here"

Amy hanged Cressida's hand around her without any questions. She was planning on anyway. She struggled to return to the bar considering Cressida rested all her weight on her, paid for the drinks.

Thankfully, one of the female patrons helped Amy get her to the car.

Amy got into the drivers seat and sighed. This wasn't the outing she had expected. Cressida was passed out drunk.

She started the ignition and drove away, having no idea that a car followed them.