Prologue
I was born and raised in India till the age of 16. My parents, Laila and Neal Sena, were wealthy landowners. People were envious of our fortune, yet they loved my parents because of their generosity and kindness. My father was also the head of our village, called Nagamani. I've heard many stories about him. Supposedly, he was quite handsome as a youth, yet very wild and spoilt being the sole heir of his parent's massive fortune. However my mother's love changed him into the respectable and caring person he became before he died. They were the perfect parents and I had the perfect life. I didn't know what misery was.
But fate was selfish. Within a week, my whole life changed and no one would have ever expected it. One day after returning from work, my father was bitten by a cobra. I remember finding him on the floor, seeing his blank stare and thinking it was just a joke. I tried to wake him up, but soon realized that it was too late. He was dead.
When my mom found out, all I could see was the anger in her eyes. No tears, just pure rage. She hugged me and gave me her emerald necklace, the one I'd always been attracted to as a child.
She told me, "I want you to always be strong, my Eesha. You have a lot coming ahead of you, but I will always be there in your heart. Promise me that you will never take this necklace off. It is a part of you now."
She gave me a last sad smile and left into the stormy night. I never saw her again
One week later, my father's cousin, Raj Sena, who my father had trusted with his life, locked me away in the attic of the mansion, while he told the chiefs of the village that I had ran away because of the grief of my parents death. After a failed search for me, they decided to transfer all my parents' property to him. Weeks turned to months, but during that time he never harmed or touched me at all. He would bring me food three times a day as if I was a dog and look me over, as though he was evaluating my condition. I never understand why he did that, but it definitely creeped me out. It confused me why he didn't just kill me. After all, I was the evidence of his greed.
Nisha, who was my mother's closest friend since childhood, never trusted Raj and knew he was hiding something. She was determined to find out the truth so after a few months, she pretended to be in love with Raj and tricked him into telling her about my captivity. She helped me escape and we ran away to the United States, straight to Forks, Washington, which had a small enough population where he would never find us. I didn't understand why we had to escape so far away and I couldn't help but feel that Nisha was hiding something. Something much more serious than what I already knew.
