Framed By My Ex, Claimed By The Cold-hearted General

Chapter 1

LAYLA POV

"Noor!"

My voice tore through the hall, sharp and trembling, echoing off the walls as panic clawed its way up my throat, raw and suffocating. I watched in horror as her body rolled down the stairs.

"Noor!"

I ran. My feet barely touched the steps as I rushed after her, my heart pounding wildly against my chest. Maybe I could catch her. Maybe I could stop her. Why was this happening? How did she fall?

"No... no... no..."

But I was too late to help her. By the time I reached the middle of the staircase, her body had already hit the floor. A sickening sound followed. Then silence.

Blood. There was blood everywhere. It spread across the marble floor, red and thick, staining everything in its path. Her eyes were open, frozen and empty.

"Noor..." My voice broke into a whisper.

I don't remember how I got down the rest of the stairs, but suddenly I was there, kneeling beside her, my hands shaking uncontrollably as I reached out. Her blood was warm. My fingers trembled as I cradled her in my lap.

"Noor, please... open your eyes."

"Look at me, I'm here."

"Look up... at your sister"

"Don't do this to me, please" My voice cracked, turning into desperate sobs.

"Don't leave me alone. Our parents already left us, you can't leave me too. You are the only family I have left" I said as tears streamed down my face.

"Noor!" My scream echoed violently through the hall.

"Somebody help!" I cried out, my voice breaking. "Please, someone help!"

But no one came. No footsteps were heard. No voices, it was just me and Noor's body. No. This can't be real.

"This... this can't be happening" A shaky breath escaped me as my thoughts spiraled.

"She just fell, that's all, she fainted, she will wake up."

"Yes... yes, she will wake up." I forced a weak smile through my tears, my hands gripping her tighter.

"Right, Noor?"

"Answer me, please"

"I'll do anything you want, I won't disobey you again"

"Just wake up, please open your eyes."

My voice faded into a whisper. Everything around me began to feel strange, and become distant. As if the world was slowly slipping away. A faint sound reached me. Someone was calling my name. Far away.

"Layla"

Again.

"Layla"

My brows furrowed slightly. Why did it feel like I was sinking? Like I was trapped between something real and something not?

"Noor..." I whispered weakly, my grip loosening.

The voice grew louder.

"Layla!"

My body felt heavy. My eyelids refused to open. Was I... dreaming? My chest rose and fell rapidly as I dragged in air, my lungs burning as if I had been running. Sweat clung to my skin, cold and sticky, my hair damp against my forehead.

My fingers twitched against the thin mattress beneath me as reality slowly forced its way in. My eyes fluttered open. For a moment, I didn't move. I just stared at the darkness and cold walls.

A faint flickering light above me. The distant echo of metal doors slamming, voices, footsteps and chains. My breath hitched.

The prison. My body slowly curled inward as the remnants of the nightmare clung to me like shadows. Noor's face, the blood, the way her body fell.

I squeezed my eyes shut tightly. It was just a dream. Just a dream. That same nightmare, again and again, for years. Always the same. Always ending the same way.

Her falling. Her not waking up. My hands trembled as I held her. My heart clenched painfully. The day Noor died was the day my life ended. Everything after that, felt like a life I was forced to live through, not something I chose.

A hollow breath escaped my lips as I slowly pushed myself up, my back pressing against the cold wall behind me. The chill seeped through my thin clothes, grounding me in a reality I could not escape.

This was real. It... was my life. A small, bitter laugh almost left my lips. Forty years. That was what they gave me. Forty years for a crime I did not commit. And I had only survived three. Three years that felt like a lifetime.

"Layla, get up."

The harsh voice cut through my thoughts like a blade. I flinched slightly, my body reacting before my mind could catch up. My head lifted slowly, my gaze landing on the figure standing outside the bars.

The guard. His expression was as cold as ever.

"What kind of sleep are you having in this hot afternoon?" he muttered, clearly annoyed. "Get up. The leader is calling for you."

My brows pulled together slightly. Calling me? For what? A flicker of unease stirred in my chest. I had done everything right today. I completed my work. I didn't argue. I didn't cause trouble. So why...?

The sound of metal scraping echoed loudly as he unlocked the cell. The door creaked open, the noise sharp against the quiet.

"Move."

I slowly stood up, my legs slightly unsteady beneath me. My body still felt heavy from the dream, my mind not fully settled.

I stepped out of the cell cautiously, my eyes flickering briefly down the corridor. The same grey walls. The same suffocating air. The same place I had been trapped in for years.

And yet... today felt different. I followed behind the guard in silence, my thoughts racing quietly in my mind. Why was I being called? Had something happened? Had... something changed?

The walk felt longer than usual.

Each step echoed faintly against the floor, blending with distant sounds from other cells. I could feel eyes on me as we passed, prisoners watching silently, curiously. But I didn't look back. Soon, we stopped in front of a door.

"The leader's office," the guard said shortly. "Enter. He only wants to see you."

I lifted my hand and knocked. A brief pause.

"Enter."

The voice from inside was calm. I pushed the door open slowly and stepped inside.

"As-salamu alaikum sir," I greeted softly, lowering my gaze slightly.

"Wa alaikum assalam," he replied, not looking up immediately as he continued typing on his laptop.

The soft tapping sound filled the room. I stood there quietly, my heart beating a little faster.

"You called for me?" I asked after a moment.

He paused. Then finally looked up.

"Oh yes, Layla."

Something in his tone made my stomach tighten.

"You have been released. I sent for you to complete the release procedure."

Silence. For a moment, I couldn't hear anything. Not even my own breathing. Released? Did I... hear that right?

"Sir..." My voice came out slower than I expected.

"Are you sure... it's me, not someone else?"

Because I had already accepted my life inside those walls. I lifted my eyes to meet his, my chest tightening.

"I was sentenced to forty years."

"So how am I being released... in just three?"

The words felt unreal even as I said them. Because this didn't feel like freedom. It felt like something else, something I didn't understand. I just didn't know if it was to save me or destroy me.