She kept humming her mother's favorite tune throughout the night, unable to sleep a wink. It still felt all surreal to her. It was like she was having a dream. A bad dream. Elena really wished it was a bad dream she could wake up from soon, and then everything would be back to normal and her mother would be back with her. But she knew it was no dream, it was real.

Elena had been thirteen when she had lost her father in a ghastly motor accident. It had been a really dark period in her life but she had been able to scale through it because she had her mother, they had scaled through it together.

Up until she graduated from college, her mother had remained single and Elena had not really been happy about that. She loved her father and knew that no one could ever take his place, not in her heart or in her mom's heart but Elena felt that her mother could still give love another shot. So she had bugged her endlessly about it and had pushed her to go on dates and meet new people.

One day, her mother Dorathy had brought home a man, Kelvin Blakes, and had introduced him to Elena as her boyfriend. Elena could still remember how thrilled she had been especially as Kelvin Blakes was a successful CEO, ranked top 10 in their country and top 100 globally. He often appeared in business news and being in the business industry herself, he was one of the people she looked up to. It didn't matter to her that he had been a divorcee. Elena had been twenty at the time. A fresh out graduate from the university. Although, she had landed an amazing job as soon as she graduated, she still lacked experience.

Elena had gotten along fine with Kelvin since they were in the same industry. He had taught her a lot too that period. He had seemed like a good man and had taken good care of her mother, she could tell because her mother became happier and when he finally proposed to her mother, she gave them her blessings.

Dorathy and Kelvin had a magnificent wedding, it was the most talked about wedding that year and even till date, people still talked about the wedding.

But then things started to change just a few months after the wedding. Kelvin started to change. He became a completely different person. Hitting her mom. Cheating on her with various women…

A soft knock on her door stopped her thoughts. She turned her head to the door as it creaked open and Stephen's head first pooped in, looking at her. She smiled at him and sat up and he pushed his full body into the room, and then came to sit beside her.

"I had a feeling you would be up. I thought I would come keep you company," Stephen said as he reached for her hand, he squeezed it gently, his eyes locked on hers.

"And cuddle me to sleep, huh?" she muttered, raising an eyebrow. He chuckled.

"I could, if you would allow me," he muttered and it was her turn to chuckle.

"And have Mia skin me alive, no thanks," she said with a provoking smile and he frowned slightly.

"Really Ellie, you need to stop with this Mia bullshit," he said and she laughed. The frown on his face spread even more.

"She is like obsessed with you. It is amusing," Elena said.

He smiled. At least her mood had improved a bit.

"So, has he called yet?" he asked and she shook his head in negation as a sigh escaped her lips. He was asking about her Fiancee, Micheal Darwin.

At times like this, Elena questioned why she was even with the guy in the first place. Micheal Johnson was a gymnast celebrity. They had met back when she was in college and they had been dating for almost six years already. He had proposed to her a year ago and she had said yes. She did like him. He was a handsome blonde with electric blue eyes and a charming smile. He had an interesting personality too.

There was a time when he did shower her with so much love and attention but the more famous he got in his swimming career, the more he travelled and before she even realized it, he was barely ever there.

"Well, I am here for you, okay? Whatever you need," Stephen said, studying her conflicted expression. She nodded at his words, and then pulled closer to him to rest her head on his shoulder.

Elena and Stephen had been friends since she started working for his company five years ago. It had been crazy how easily they had become best friends considering that Stephen was one hell of a cold unapproachable young man when she first met him. He still was but not just to her.

"It is my fault she is dead," Elena suddenly muttered, ending with a sniff.

"Hey, no, don't do that," he said, reaching out to cup her face in his hands. Her eyes glistened with tears.

"None of what is happening is your fault," he said.

"But it is. It is because of me that she started going out on dates again, that she met Kelvin. I pushed her, encouraged her and now she is dead," she went on. The tears dropped and started rolling down her cheeks.

"You only wanted the best for your mother Ellie. It is not your fault what happened," he said and she sniffed.

"But who would poison them?" Stephen asked. She shook her head at him, indicating that she had no idea.

"I don't know but kelvin did have quite some enemies. I warned my mother. I warned her not to get involved in his mess but she didn't listen to me," Elena spoke in between tears. Her lips quivering and her shoulders shaking involuntarily.

He reached out and pulled her into his embrace, patting her back as she sobbed.

In his embrace, Elena travelled down memory lane again…

It was the deep of the night. She had been soundly asleep when suddenly she had woken up to a slick touch over her thighs. Her eyes had swung open, and she had gasped when she saw Kelvin in her bedroom, hovering over her.

"What the f**k are you doing!" she exclaimed, trying to keep her tone hushed because she knew that her mother was probably sleeping in their matrimonial room next to hers. She jumped out of the bed as she spoke.

His lustful eyes gazed back at her and then he moved away from her slowly. Her eyes on him was sharp. Even though it was staring her in the face, she was fighting it. She didn't want to believe it. He couldn't have sneaked into her room because he was attracted to her… She was his stepdaughter for crying out loud. Was he going to forcefully have his way with her?

"I am so sorry about this Ellie. I don't know what I was thinking," he muttered and with that scurried away from her room.

She sat up, bewildered. She wasn't able to sleep a wink that night…