AGAINST ALL ODDS!

SYBIL EAGAN POV

Today was going to be the happiest day of my life, because despite all the opposition, the rejections of my parents, and all the trials I'd passed through, I was finally going to tie the knot with the only man that my heart had ever beat for.

Dian Angelo and I were finally going to be together, and I just wanted to scream for the whole world to know how happy I was.

My parents were not in support and had cut me off, so it was going to be a small ceremony at a small chapel with only our close friends in attendance, but it couldn't be more perfect. I only wanted Dian. He was my soulmate.

Kushi stepped into the room, a wide smile on her face, with a bottle of champagne. I raised a brow, my gaze pointedly on the bottle in her hand. Kushi scoffed, waving the bottle wildly.

"This is for the after-party girl, no need to give me that look. Anyways, you look freaking gorgeous. Dian is such a lucky guy, I swear" she gushed, moving towards me, an appraising look in her eyes as she took my hand and made me do a spin.

I giggled happily. "Enough of that, and we really need to get going, I do not want to be late for my own wedding. I do not want to keep Dian waiting".

Kushi smirked. "Gosh, love. Such a beautiful feeling, but you are right. We need to get going ASAP; I wouldn't want the priest having a fit 'cause the bride didn't show up," she got out with an exaggerated eye roll.

"No need to be so dramatic".

"Girl with all the stress we've gone through this week, we do need a lot of drama. I'm so exhausted, but I'm sure you have it worse, Bebe," she said, patting my hair gently.

I grabbed her hand and placed it against my cheek. "I'm perfectly ok, Kushi, and I want to thank you for staying by my side... I don't know what I'd have done without you".

"Aww," she gushed, then pulled me into her arms, her arms wrapping tightly around me. "I love you too, best friend," she choked out, then pulled back, her gaze widening when she stared at me. "Hey! Don't you dare cry, Sybil Eagan; you're not going to ruin four hours' worth of makeup just at the last minute; blink it back, blink it!"

I laughed, forcing the tears that had been gathering back. "You freaking suck at giving advice, you know that, right? If I blink, it's definitely going to fall," I joked, and Kushi made to reply when the doorbell rang.

Kushi's brows shot up as she met my gaze. "Did you order room service?"

I shook my head, and Kushi sighed before stepping past me. "I'll go check it out" she murmured more to herself than to me.

I sat back on the bed, my heart rate spiking as I waited for her. Her audible gasp reached my ear and I shot up from the bed as she reentered the room with my mother behind her. What was she doing here? She'd not spoken to me for six months, so why now?

Her sneer of disdain was the first thing that greeted me as she took in my appearance.

"I can not believe you are pushing through with this madness. How can you do this to your own family? You're going to give everything up for a man that is not worth half your existence".

I clenched my fist. "I love Dian. There is nothing that is going to change my mind from marrying him, and he might be worthless to you, but he is worth more than all the stars in the sky to me".

Her palm struck my cheek. It caught me off guard because I hadn't expected her to hit me. Kushi quickly ran to my aid.

"Mrs. Eagan... You can't hit... "

"Shut your mouth kushi! I should never have let you be friends with my daughter. You clearly influenced her to make such a reckless decision" she got out haughtily before leveling her gaze back on me. "This is your last chance, Sybil. Dian is no good for you. He's a monster just like his father. You're going to get your heart broken, and I'm sure he's not going to be with you now that we've cut you off".

"He was never with me for the money because he has his own," I yelled, finally snapping.

"And I know that" she snapped right back."But he's definitely not with you because of love, ok? It's because you are part of our family. He might not need our fortune now but he will have access to it once you are married"

I shook my head. "There is nothing that you and father do or say that will ever make me leave him. You both never cared about me; you treated me as if I were someone you picked off the street. You're only doing this because you want me to marry Damien, all because of his wealth and what he can do for your company. Get away from here. I don't want you freaking near me," I screamed, the tears slipping down my face.

"You are going to regret this Sybil. I told you so. Dian doesn't love you for you," she said, then smirked. "No one would ever love you for you, and you know that. Don't come crawling back to us when everything we warned you about happens".

"It won't! Get out of my life" I shouted, and her bodyguards rushed into the room because of the volume I'd used.

My mom gave them a reassuring smile, stared at me for one long moment, then walked out of the room.

I wanted to scream, I wanted to tear something apart, but I just stood there seething. She'd almost managed to ruin the happiest day of my life.

"We are already five minutes late, Sybil. We need to go now," Kushi's voice crashed through the roaring in my ears, and the softness of her palm gliding over mine brought me back to earth. She gave me a sympathetic smile as I turned to face her. I nodded, wiping at my tears, my eyeliner smudging in the process. Great, now I have to get rid of everything.

**********

We made it just in time because once we got out of the car, the piano was already playing.

Kushi smiled and linked her arms with mine.

"Are you ready to finally become Mrs. Sybil Dian Angelo"?

"Absolutely. Can't wait"I smiled back. Kushi grinned, then gave a soft tug forward.

"Let's not keep Dian waiting then". I nodded in agreement, my stomach fluttering with nerves as we stepped into the beautifully decorated chapel.

My heart drummed against my ribs, my palm sweaty. This was it, I was going to finally be with the love of my life. We'd planned everything we were going to do after the wedding and I was ecstatically waiting for it. The guests turned to face us once they heard our footsteps, and the smile on my lips slowly drained as I took in the faces of the men and women staring at me with puzzled looks on their faces.

There were too many guests and not one familiar face among them. Kushi also paused by my side as the people stared at us strangely.

Feeling like I was suddenly in a nightmare, I looked at the altar, hoping that it was a surprise from Dian and that the guest was from his side, but it was not Dian who stood there. It was a man I'd never seen in my life.

Was I in the wrong chapel? No, there was a familiar face rushing towards me agitatedly. Father Chris. I was definitely in the right chapel.

There was a ringing in my ear as he spoke, and then he thrust a paper into my hand and called for someone to escort us out of the building.

Kushi was yelling something but I couldn't hear her. The sound of my beating heart drowned out all the noises around me. My finger shook as I tore open the letter the priest had given to me. The ring I'd gotten Dian for the wedding fell away and I took out the only thing Dian had left, a piece of paper. His beautiful handwriting had tears blurring my vision.

It contained only seven words; The wedding is off, you lying whore.

I read the words again, the tears dropping from my eyes ruining the paper.

I gazed around at the pitying faces of the guests at the wedding I'd crashed. This was supposed to be my wedding. Dian should have been waiting for me.

Someone was trying to move me out of the way, and I turned to see that the bride for the particular wedding was coming in.

Dian had left me, without a proper goodbye, without a reason except for a stupid seven-word letter that made me question my sanity.

Kushi was yelling my name and shaking me, but I was numb to all sensations... Cameras started to flash in my face, and I noticed that some reporters had gotten into the building.

My heart stuttered in my chest, and breathing became painful, then everything stopped, and I was floating in darkness.

FIVE YEARS LATER.

SYBIL POV.

"You really need to try to smile more".

"I already agreed to follow you to this stupid resort, so I don't think you should be complaining about my smile or the lack of it," I snapped and increased the car's speed.

Kushi grabbed at her seatbelt, her eyes darting between me and the road. "Hey, slow down. We'll get into an accident at this rate, and if we are dead, we won't be there for the welcome party, you know that, right?"

"I couldn't possibly care about that kushi. I didn't want anything to do with the resort in the first place, which FYI, is in the middle of freaking nowhere".

"Well, it's not literally in the middle of nowhere, and your GPS is one of the best," she said showing me the map on my phone that she held. "We are on the right path, so you don't have to worry about us getting lost..."

Her voice sounded like a buzzing in my ears as I remembered the last time I drove like this. It was when I and Dian had gone on a road trip together. He'd cheered me on all the way. We'd been living life recklessly as if we would never die. It had been just us, against the damned world... My vision fogged up.

"You are scaring me, Sybil, you need to slow the fuck down!" Kushi yelled, and I stepped on the brakes without thinking. The terrible sound of screeching made me flinch and it was only by a miracle that the car did not flip over.

The car stopped, and I gasped as we were flung forward, the only thing that held us back was the seatbelt.

Kushi looked at me, her eyes blown wide out of proportion. "You are freaking never driving me anywhere, ever"

"I'm sorry... " I started to say when I noticed that my phone was no longer in her hand. "Where is my phone?" I asked, the amount of panic that crept up my chest almost choking the little air I was getting in the first place.

Kushi looked around. "I don't know. The window was rolled down, and everything happened so fast, it might have flown out of my hand".

I wanted to scream. I yanked my seatbelt off and shoved the door open. Grasses flagged both sides of the road. The car had veered into the bushy path during the accident.

Kushi came out. "What are you doing?".

"I am looking for my fucking phone" I choked out, my eyes fogging up as I searched blindly among the ankle-length grasses, the ache in my chest growing to the point of pain.

******

It was getting darker, yet I couldn't find the phone. I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream.

"We need to leave Sybil, it's getting darker. Let's just forget about the phone. We can use my phone's map. It is also good".

My gaze snapped to Kushi's. "I know your phone has a GPS Kushi. I just need my freaking memory card. This isn't about the phone" I forced out of my throat.

Kushi scratched her neck kicked at the sand, then gasped, bending down to pick something up. "I found it" she yelled, her voice filled with exhilaration.

I was snatching the phone from her in a blink. The screen was utterly trashed, so I just dismantled it got out my memory card, got a flash drive, and placed it inside.

Kushi watched me, the question in her eyes burning into my skull, but I avoided her gaze, not in the mood to dig through my feelings. I already spent hours doing that with my therapist every other week.

We both got into the car. I turned on the ignition. The engine started, then died almost immediately. I tried five more times, then hit the wheel angrily, and resisted the urge to smash my head against it too.

"You were a lot calmer five years ago," Kushi's voice reached me, and I refused to meet her gaze.

"Well people change. I am not a doll with no emotions".

"I didn't say you were, but these days, it's like you're on a short fuse. You explode at the slightest provocation. Your doctor said you needed to rest... "

"Which is exactly what I'm trying to do, but since we are stuck in the middle of nowhere, I don't see that happening anymore" I gritted, then flinched as the sky rumbled all of a sudden. "Great, like we didn't have enough problems".

Kushi sighed. "Stop being so pessimistic. I am sure we'll be fine".

My fingers gripped the steering wheel harder. "And how are we going to be fine? Look around you, there's nothing but grass for miles, and we haven't seen any cars since we got on this cursed road."

Kushi pushed the door open.

"Where are you going?" I got out, my voice laced with panic.

"We should take some of our stuff and look for a gas station or an auto shop. There is no cell service here," she said, looking at her phone.

"It's going to rain. I think it's better we just stay in the car".

Kushi rolled her eyes. "You used to be so adventurous. Well, stay here then, if you want to. I'll go get us help".

I sighed, picked up my bag, and got out of the car. Kushi grinned at me, and as much as I wanted to return the smile, I felt too raw to do it. The wind picked up, the clouds getting gloomier.

We'd walked a mile when we saw a car approaching. Kushi went crazy, yelling and screaming for the car to stop.

I sighed in relief when it finally did. It was a beautiful black limo, so I guessed it was one of those rich guests who were heading to the resort.

The door opened and the interior looked so cozy it was insane. A pretty lady smiled at us.

"Are you heading to the resort? Was that your car a mile back?" She asked, her gaze fixed on me.

Kushi rushed forward, almost elbowing me in the process. "Yes, that was our car. It just suddenly died on us and now we are stranded. My feet are freaking numb already".

"Well, you can ride with us, and when we get to the resort, I guess the management will find a way to get your stuff. I'm Helaena, by the way," she introduced herself as she waved us in.

Kushi turned to seek my consent and then went inside when I hesitated. I followed her into the car. It was not as if we had a lot of options anyway.

"You are so nice. You're practically helping us when you don't even know us".

"Well, you both look pretty harmless," she replied vaguely. "Also, we recently invested in the resort, and we want only good reviews about it, and we won't get that if our guests are stranded with no means of finding their way."

I exhaled tiredly. Helaena touched my thigh and my gaze snapped to hers. "Do not worry about your car. It will be taken care of".

Kushi scoffed. "She was planning to trash the car and now that it did this, I'm sure Sybil won't be riding it ever. She hates things that fail her"

"Kushi," I called in a warning, and she gave me an incomprehensible look. I turned my gaze to Helaena. "You keep saying we. Who are you referring to?"

"My boss. I'm a glorified assistant," she joked, but I was too stressed to even smile.

"Where's your boss?" Kushi asked, and Helaena pointed to a covered figure beside me. I jumped for the first time, noticing the body sprawled beside me. "Jesus Christ! What the hell" I got out, my hands clutching at my ribs.

Helaena shushed me, a serious look on her face. "Please, don't yell. He doesn't like to be disturbed when he's sleeping".

I looked at the figure, then at Helaena. "But we've been talking since we got in".

"Earbuds," she explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

I stared at the figure, unable to draw my gaze away. The body shifted, the blanket slipping a little to reveal a tattooed hand, and my gaze snapped back to Kushi, who was still talking animatedly with Helaena.

I rubbed my face. What had I been expecting? His hands... they were almost the same proportion as Dian's, just that he was more buffed up, and there was the tattoo. Dian didn't have any. His height... It was exactly like Dian's... How could I tell tho since he was literally covered up? I needed to stop before I drove myself insane with both anger and longing.

It's been five years, and no matter how much I wanted answers to all my unanswered questions, I knew they would never come. Dian was gone. He'd disappeared, never to return, and I had to deal with it. I had to move on because it was either that or drive myself insane and do something crazy like looking for him, and then shooting him in the chest with an automatic weapon before he even had a chance to plead his case. Gods, I hated him so much, yet, I couldn't stop obsessing over him. This had to end. I was going to end this. Once and for all.

SYBIL POV

"You look like you need to sleep for five days straight," Dave said with a worried smile on his face as he stared at me through the screen.

I forced a smile and dropped my laptop on the table, so I could focus on Dave. I put away the rest of my stuff and then stepped away from the laptop to get all my work drives. Once I finished, I sat back down at the edge of the bed and really took a closer look at Dave's face.

"Yeah. Well, you look like you need to wash whatever that is off your face" I motioned to the ash face mask he was wearing.

He smirked. "This is how I get all the girls, boss. I'm already ugly enough," he paused, and I raised a brow, waiting for the question I knew he really wanted to ask. "How's Kushi doing?"

"Why don't you just call her and find out".

Dave sighed then inhaled deeply, his smile slipping. "No way. She'd say I'm a stalker and all that. Don't want a lawsuit. Hey, what happened to your phone? I tried calling like a hundred times." he changed the subject, and I managed a smirk.

"We had a bit of an accident and the phone got crushed. I forgot to take out my SIM card; I only took the memory card... " I trailed off as Dave gave me a knowing look.

"You should have left the memory card behind. You're holding onto things that are slowly killing you. It's been years, Sybil," he said, and I wanted to snap that I knew that, but he was right. I couldn't hold on to pictures and videos of Dian while hating him and yet still hoping to forget about him. Kushi didn't know that I still had all the images we took together... I didn't want her to see me as weak ever, especially not because of Dian.

"Are you there... You're spacing out"

I rubbed my face tiredly. "I have to get something done, Dave. Can we talk tomorrow?". I didn't wait for an answer before ending the call.

I picked up the flash drive, the temptation to look through the images on it overwhelming. I should hate him with only murderous intent, but he was the only man I'd ever loved. I'd sacrificed everything for him, so there was still something in me that wanted to know why he did what he did to me. I had been so devastated, and it didn't get better-how could it-not when my parents used every chance they got to rub it in my face, and they had every right to, considering the amount they spent to keep the scandal off the internet

Using the last of my savings, I'd worked with a vengeance to invest and build up my life after I was estranged from my family.

It was just me against the world now, and despite the success, all I wanted to know was why. Was Mother right about me or about him? Did he leave me because he found out I had been cut off from my family, and I didn't bother to tell him about it, or was I so unlovable that even he got tired of me?

I shoved at the contents on the table before I could think it through as rage welled up inside, and then I jumped back from the mess on the floor as I realized what I had done. I really needed to stop torturing myself.

I crawled on top of the bed, reveling in how soft and comfy it was against my body. The resort was truly beautiful, everything was perfect and to my taste but I couldn't enjoy it. All I felt was a soul-crushing bitterness, and as I drifted off to sleep, it was to go through all the horrible nightmares that made me hate shutting my eyes.

******

The loud knock on my door woke me up, and I knew it was none other than Kushi. I forced my feet to move, even tho what I really wanted to do was never get up.

I pulled the door open and her eyes widened when she took in my appearance.

"What the hell? You totally missed the morning exercise. Are you just waking up?" She asked unbelievably.

"I thought we came here to rest, also, no one told me about any exercising... and it is not even seven yet".

Kushi pushed past me into the room and then picked up the small alarm clock. "It's freaking nine-thirty. I'm sure you slept even tho this rang at seven-thirty." She dropped the clock muttering under her breath. I closed the door and dropped onto the sofa. "Should I order you breakfast in bed"

"I'm assuming everyone already had breakfast".

"Mostly everyone. Oh, I also ran into Helaena. She is so fit it's insane. I was so jealous".

The drumming in my head was starting to get louder. "Did you thank her for yesterday"?

"First thing I did." She said, stepped towards me, and yanked me to my feet all of a sudden.

"What the..."

"Go shower right now. I didn't spend months convincing you to come here just for you to stay indoors. I'll take you on a tour, so go!" She said and took my seat.

I cursed under my breath, feeling too tired to argue.

Showering and dressing up didn't take long, not when Kushi breathed down my neck every second of the way.

We both had breakfast in my room, with Kushi wolfing most of the food down while I tried to force the delicious meal down my throat and simultaneously fought the urge to throw it all up.

Once I managed to finish a plate, we both left my room.

"You should try to eat more, Sybil; you're already so lean if you starve yourself..."

"Can you stop?" I begged, halting in my tracks. Kushi stopped too, her gaze raking over me.

"I'm just worried about you Sybil. I fear that something bad is going to happen to you".

"I'm fine ok. You need to stop worrying, especially since it won't solve anything but make me feel like I am a burden to you".

"I do not see you-" she paused as her gaze caught those of someone behind me. I turned to look at who it was, my brows furrowing a bit as I took in the physique of the guy walking towards us with a smile that revealed two beautiful dimples on his cheeks. He was good-looking.

"Hey Kush," he got out once he reached us. Kushi blushed, then smiled up at him.

"Rohan, it's been a minute".

He shook his head, his messy curls bouncing a bit. "No, it has been four miserable hours"

Kushi's smile deepened. "I had to get my friend," she explained and Rohan's gaze finally snapped in my direction, a cute smile making an appearance. "Rohan, this is Sybil, my best friend, Sybil, Rohan," she introduced.

I gave a little wave at the same time Rohan reached for a handshake, and it got really awkward when I tried to shake him and he had already withdrawn his hand to wave instead. Oh hell!

Kushi cleared her throat loudly, and I let my hand drop. "It's really nice to meet you, Rohan"

"Same Sybil. I hope you're enjoying this place... It's been the best place to have a getaway so far".

"It's been good," I lied through my teeth because it hadn't been all that good, but my experience had nothing to do with the resort. There was just too much free time. At least when I worked, I did not have the time to think, but being at the resort has had my brain working overtime and it drained me.

"Well, you should come again next year. I would gladly take care of all the reservations and stuff".

Kushi squealed at the same time I told him a vehement, "No".

Kushi's gaze snapped to mine.

"I mean" I digressed as Kushi gave me evil eyes. "Not next year, maybe the upper one. Lots of work commitment for next year".

"Then you have to make the best of this year. There will be an archery class later, you have to try it out," Rohan said enthusiastically. "Also have you seen the array of food they serve here... They are all mouthwatering good."

Kushi stepped closer to him. "Talking about food is making me pretty hungry, also I haven't seen the sort of delicacies this place has to offer"

"That is not acceptable. Come, I'll show you; you shouldn't miss out on anything while you are here, Kushi," he said, taking her hand and holding her gaze as he pulled her along.

I watched them go while resisting the urge to yank Kushi by the hair. She told me she was going to give me a tour, convinced me to drop my laptop in the room, and now she was off with some guy she probably met the night before or early this morning since he said four hours while conveniently forgetting about me.

Not down for feeling sorry for myself, I took the stairs and then walked toward a grand-looking hallway, only to realize it was a mini art gallery. Paintings and pictures adorned the white walls, and they looked amazing.

I looked around, admiring each piece of art until I stood in front of a particular painting. It looked really familiar. It was a splash of different colors but when examined more closely, you could make out a face.

I reached out to trace the eyes of the hidden girl.

"You see it," someone said from beside me and I jerked back, my heart almost flying out of my mouth as I turned to glare at the culprit. I blinked and wondered if the hotel made it a point to book and accept only the beautiful and handsome-looking people at the resort.

"I'm sorry I scared you," he apologized, his voice thick with a really sexy accent that I couldn't place. I was mostly hostile to strangers, but the guy looked like he could be an angel. He looked really pure.

"It's fine, and yes, I see it. It is a very captivating piece. I think whoever the artist is, he's a genius" I said, and the guy smiled, his eyes shining.

"I'm glad someone appreciates my work," he said and my eyes widened. That seemed to boost his ego further. "If you do not look closely, you only see colors. You have an art intuition".

"Wow, well, this is... Your work is really a masterpiece, and since I'm meeting you like this, can we talk about my acquiring this piece? Damn, where are my manners? I'm Sybil Eagan by the way"

He smiled, "I'm Seth, Seth Rodriguez, and it's a pleasure to meet someone more beautiful than my paintings".

I stared at him, the compliment not quite hitting right. "Well about what I said... "

"You can have it free of charge since you're the first to have taken notice of it. It is actually my first work, and since you love it, I'm motivated to continue".

I gaped at him. "You mean no one has taken notice of your talent. That is so hard to believe... Look, I could help you, I have friends who are dying to showcase unique art pieces, and since I'm intrigued by your work, I can put in a word for you... What do you say"

"I don't know Sybil. I mean, we literally just met, and you're trying to help me... I can't wrap my head around it".

Neither could I. Was this, in some sort of tragic way because Dian used to paint? I clenched my fist, hating that everything I did was, in one way or another, influenced by him.

"-I'll think about it," Seth said and my gaze jerked to his. "I really appreciate the offer, tho", he grinned, his bright blue eyes reflecting the light.

I couldn't help but stare at them. They were really pretty, and they were coming closer to me. His lips were almost touching mine when I shoved him until he was on the floor.

My heart raced as he stared at me in shock

I ran out of the gallery without thinking.