Chapter 3 Am I Dreaming?

Alice woke to someone calling her name. 

"Mrs. Cole? Mrs. Cole, can you hear me?" 

Her eyelids felt unbearably heavy. She tried to move, but a sharp ache pulsed through the back of her head. For several seconds, she could only hear the faint clatter of porcelain and the frightened voice hovering somewhere beside her. 

"Mrs. Cole, please wake up." 

Alice finally opened her eyes. 

The familiar ceiling of her bedroom came into focus, followed by the worried face of Maria, one of the senior maids in the Cole mansion. The woman was kneeling beside the bed, one hand pressed against her own chest. 

"Thank God," Maria whispered. "I thought you had fainted again."

Alice stared at her. "How long was I unconscious?" 

"I'm not sure, ma'am. This was the first time I came in. I was about to bring you breakfast when I found you lying on the floor." 

Maria reached for the glass of water on the bedside table. "Please, drink this." 

Alice pushed herself upright and accepted it with trembling fingers. The moment the water touched her lips, fragments of the dream came rushing back. The burning city. The screaming. The bloodied man. The images rushed back to her, each one feeling far too real to have been nothing more than a dream. A sudden wave of nausea twisted through Alice's stomach. Her fingers tightened around the glass, trembling so badly that the water inside nearly spilled over the rim. 

"Mrs. Cole? Are you all right?" Maria asked, her voice filled with concern as she watched the color drain from Alice's face. 

Alice swallowed hard and forced herself to breathe. "I-I'm fine." 

Maria didn't look convinced. "Should I call doctor John?" 

"No." 

"But your head-" 

"I said I'm fine!" 

The sharpness in Alice's voice made Maria fall silent. Alice looked toward the nightstand. The necklace was there. She remembered dropping it before she collapsed, yet now it rested neatly beside her phone as though someone had placed it there. Her stomach tightened. The blue gemstone looked completely ordinary. No glow or hologram like it used to be. Alice reached for it. The moment her fingers closed around the pendant, a strange pressure settled behind her eyes. She knew the mechanism was still there. She knew the strange device inside it had not been damaged. And somehow, she knew the vision had not been a dream. 

"Where did you find this?" she asked. Maria glanced at the necklace. "It was beside you when I found you." 

Alice slowly released it. "Did anyone touch it?" 

"No, ma'am." 

"Are you sure?" 

Maria nodded. Alice swallowed hard. Whatever this fake necklace was, she needed to uncover why it had suddenly shown her a future that made her blood run cold. The betrayal, the fake gift, even Vivian seemed almost insignificant now. A few minutes ago, those things had felt like the worst wounds she had ever suffered. Now, the countdown from the pendant had pushed everything else into the background. 

Global collapse. Sixty days. The words refused to leave her mind. 

"Damn it." Alice pushed herself upright and looked toward the door. "Where's Jason? Has he come home yet?" 

Before Maria could answer, the sound of the front door opening echoed through the quiet house. A moment later, Jason's familiar voice carried up from the foyer. 

"I'm home."

Alice glanced toward the bedroom door. Maria looked at her. 

"Mr. Cole is home." 

"Hmm." Alice set the glass down and slowly swung her legs over the side of the bed. 

Jason came upstairs a few minutes later, looking completely at ease. He had already changed out of his suit jacket, leaving him in a crisp white shirt with the sleeves rolled neatly to his

elbows. He stopped when he saw Alice sitting on the edge of the bed. His expression immediately softened. 

"There you are." He walked into the room and gave her a casual smile. "Rosa told me you were resting." 

Alice watched him approach. The man looked exactly the same as he always did. The same charming smile. The same effortless confidence. The same face that had once made her believe she had found someone who would never abandon her. 

"How are you feeling?" he asked. 

"My head hurts." 

Jason frowned and reached toward her forehead, but Alice instinctively leaned away. His hand stopped in midair. 

"What?" he asked, looking slightly offended. "I'm only checking. Did you bump your head or something?" 

"Yes, I did. But I'm okay." 

"What? Really?" Jason's brows lifted. "Did you fall last night? I was just kidding, honey." His voice softened as he glanced at the bandage. "We should take you to the hospital and have it checked." 

"I don't need a hospital." 

Jason sighed and sat beside her. "You've been under a lot of stress lately. You should stop thinking about work for a while." 

Alice stared at him for a moment. Something about the way he said it irritated her. He sounded concerned, but there was no real worry in his eyes. It was the same effortless concern he used whenever he wanted to end a difficult conversation. She folded her arms across her chest. 

"And where exactly were you last night, Mr. Husband?" 

The sarcastic edge in her voice made Jason pause. Alice had never spoken to him like that before. His smile slowly disappeared. 

"Busy." Jason loosened the top button of his shirt. "Meetings, investors, the usual." 

"Anything interesting?" 

"Nothing worth talking about." 

He said it so naturally that Alice almost laughed. Then her eyes fell to his collar. A faint smear of pink lipstick marked the edge of his white shirt. It was subtle enough that someone might have

missed it. Alice wouldn't have, especially not now. She stared at it for a few seconds before lifting her eyes back to his face. Jason noticed. His fingers immediately moved toward his collar, but he stopped himself halfway. 

Alice caught the movement. "What's that?" 

"What?" 

She pointed at his shirt. Jason glanced down. For a fraction of a second, something flashed across his face. 

"Probably from someone at the meeting." 

"Someone?" 

"Yes." He brushed at the stain casually. "People were greeting me all night. It's not a big deal."

Alice didn't answer. She could smell it now. A faint floral perfume clung to him beneath his usual cologne. It wasn't hers. She knew every scent Jason had ever worn because she had chosen most of them herself. This one was unfamiliar and expensive. Alice's stomach tightened.

"Interesting," she murmured. 

Jason frowned. "What is?" 

"That perfume." He went still. Alice leaned back slightly, studying him. "I've never smelled it on you before." 

"You're imagining things." 

"Am I?" 

"Alice, seriously. I came home after a long night, and you're questioning me over a little lipstick and perfume?" 

"A little lipstick?" Her laugh came out quiet and bitter. "You have lipstick on your collar, Jason." 

"So?" 

"So tell me whose it is." 

"Well, uhm Vivian was at the meeting," he finally said. "Maybe it was hers." 

Alice's expression hardened. "Maybe?" 

Jason sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You're making this into something it isn't." 

"Then make it simple. Did you sleep with Vivian last night?"