The car drove into the familiar mansion.It was the place where I spent my bitter childhood and early teens. The place where my insecurities fester and shackle me to restrain. It was my prison.The Mckenzie mansion.Looking at the big mansion, nothing much changed in the past year. It was still dull and dreadful as ever.Returning to this place did not give me any nostalgic feelings.The guards lead me to the waiting room. I waited there for a long time but no one came. Not even a single person came to serve me some snacks or drinks.It was way passed lunchtime and I got hungry. It was impossible for the Mckenzie to care about the rebellious daughter they had just brought if she had eaten or not. It was also futile to go out since the room was locked from the outside. I could only wait until the owner of this house decided to meet me.At that moment, my phone rang.It was Kane.Seeing Kane's name, all the depressing feeling that this house and the people inside here brought me dissip
Kane arrived like my knight in shining armor. He came here to rescue me. With him around, all my fears disappeared. I gained more confidence and determination. "You won't be locking me here today. Not tomorrow and not ever again." Under their disbelieving eyes, I walked past them. I stopped before Vicotria. "Ah, also my birthday has already passed. I had a party on my own a few weeks ago. So I don't need your fake party." As I neared the door- a meter away from Richard- the man suddenly held my arm. "Where are you going?!" "I'm leaving." "If I say you won't leave, you will not be able to!" I shook off Richard's hand with all my might. Even though Richard was a strong man, I still have the strength to push him away. He was taken aback by my sudden action and unconsciously let me go. His eyes were wide as he stared at me. He must have never thought that the coward and obedient daughter of his that always looked at him with admiration was now hating him to the bone. "You ca
Thanks to Kane, I don't need to hide from the Mckenzie anymore. Nor do I need to apply for leave from school to get far from them.In the car, I opened the notes that Anna gave me.It was an address of a station. There was a locker number and its password.After glancing at it, I put it back in my wallet.Looking at the scenery passing by, my emotions started to calm down.Seeing the Mckenzie out of nowhere took me by surprise. No matter how much I prepared myself for the past few days, I still could not move on from the bitter memories that they had imprinted on me.I almost lost my composure and become the coward Stella- the hopeless person I was before. If Kane did not come, I might have been locked up there powerless.I glanced at Kane who was driving the car by my side."What is it?" Kane noticed my gaze. He glanced at me with a smile."How did you make Richard compromise with you?"Richard would not just let me go because of Kane's appearance. Kane must have done something to ma
That night was full of nightmares. I dreamt of my unfortunate childhood. I was scolded harshly, locked up, starved, and condemned. The birthday parties that changed dates every year were awkward and exhausting. I was surrounded by adults who ignored my existence. But when their eyes looked at me, it was full of loathing. Then I saw Richard, Victoria, and Anna smiling wickedly. "Stella, this is your husband. Say 'hi'." They brought a faceless man to me. Victoria smiled sweetly, "You are a good girl, right? You will be a good wife as well. You will bring prosperity to our family by marrying into the Pilton family. As long as you become a Pilton, we will accept you. You will finally have some use." "You can't escape from your fate. This is your ending. You will be forever locked up in the Pilton gates. Serving your womanizer husband until your death." Richard said coldly. "Sister, don't worry, I'll help you escape. You are so pitiful. Mother and father don't love you. The only way
The girls' expressions turned sour. But they did not give up."I am Jenna and this is Bianca. Are you a celebrity? We want to be your fan.""I am not a celebrity. Please leave." Kane spoke coldly again. There were many people glancing their way. Some must have thought Kane was a celebrity but refused to admit it. They even started to take out their phones.I started to walk to them. We can't take this matter bigger. I am afraid someone would take a picture and posted it on social media. Kane's picture never failed to amaze people so I am pretty sure his pictures would go viral. Then people would recognize him as the heir of the Cruz family. Both of us just want to have a pretty good date. We can't afford to be talked about because of this little incident."Oh? You are not? Then can we have your number? We are interested in you." The girls are quite thick-skinned. Kane was annoyed. "I am not interested in you. I have a girlfriend."The girls were stunned. As they were about to speak
.....After the date, I completely forgot the matter of the Mckenzies.I was only reminded of it again when I came to school the next day and the discussion and gossip were all about Anna performing at the joint event and attending class in the music department."...."Are the Mckenzies insane? They actually put Anna here when she could be further cultivated in that prestigious music school. Did they interrupt her studies just to keep watch on me?While the others were discussing Anna, the girls who were curious about Anna at the event did not utter a single thing about her to me. I don't know what happen to the girls but they never opened it up to me. They avoided all the discussion about the music prodigy who enrolled in the next building. Nor the attention Mckenzie has in the whole campus.They did not ask me questions. I was grateful that they did not bother me about it. Because honestly, I don't know how to start and tell them.However, since I am known as a Mckenzie it was not
Kate suddenly turned stiff. While Denise looked at Kate in shock. "When did you get a boyfriend?!" I was in thought. Kate and the guy from a theater department.... I remembered that during the bet, the Theather department helped us supervise the fight between the Acting department and us. At that time, Kate was very close to the students of the theater department. She was standing close to the President. The president of the Theather club even apologized to us after the ruckus. Oh.... "Is it the President of the Theather club?" Kate froze. Denise's eyes were wide. "President Qitz?!" Alexa nodded. "Yeah. I saw them last weekend. They were all lovey-dovey. Sharing ice cream and laughing!" Kate looked at Alexa in shock. "When did you see us?" "So it is true!" Denise howled. She looked like she had never known the two. I coughed. "Let's get this straight. So all of us have boyfriends and potential boyfriends while Denise is the only one single?" I jabbed where it hurts. Den
After the incident with Anna, I gained a lot of stares. Fortunately, my classmates and the girls had a tacit understanding to not mention or bother me about it. No one came to ask me even though I could see that they were dying out of curiosity. Before the class ended, I messaged Kane that I am going with the girls.He replied quickly.[Kane: Alright. I also need to go since my father suddenly returned home. I just received the news. I might not sleep at the Golden Mansion tonight.]His father went home suddenly? Was Uncle Tristan okay now?I typed a reply.[Stella: Okay. Be careful on your way and send my regards to Uncle Tristan for me.][Kane: He would be delighted. Have fun with them. I'll call someone later to take you home. Send me a message when you are done.]I smiled. Kane was so sweet and caring. We exchanged sweet messages for a while and send some heart gifs before saying goodbye.If I haven't promised a date with the girls I would have followed Kane and greeted Uncle Tr
After listening for an hour, I came to believe that Kane did really visit me in those times as he told me some of the things he was concerned with. It seemed that he bottled it all up. Kane pouted, "When I came to visit you, aside from the first few times, you don't look like you missed me. You are happy with them. Especially with that person named Hugh. You are being too close to him. Are you sure he doesn't have a crush on you? Whenever your group hang out, he was always there." "Because he is part of the group. Don't worry about Hugh, I think he has a crush on Lilac." "Your dormitory friend? But they looked like they hate each other." "Didn't we also start that way?" Kane chuckled, "Right. It only changed when you played Cupid." I could not help but smile at the memory. Wait.... I slapped Kane's arm. "You are changing the topic. I am still angry at you." Although I said that, there was no really no anger in my heart anymore. I just wanted to make it difficult for Kane for
My consciousness started to stir as I felt someone wiping my face. The wet towel then wiped my neck, arms, and hands. Although I am already aware, my body was numb and I couldn't move. I wasn't in the mood to bother about it. The one who was wiping my hands and face was so gentle in his movements, that I slowly fell to sleep afterward.The grumbling in my stomach woke me up. But the dizziness made me groan.I felt a movement beside me. That person gently brushed the hair away from my face."Dizzy?" His gentle voice was familiar but the aching in my head made me muddle-headed to think bout it further.I muttered, "Head...hurts..."That person massaged my head and spoke in a low voice, "You should drink a hang-over medicine. Here...." That person's voice was low and magnetic. It calmed my heart immediately.With my eyes closed, the man lifted me up until I was able to sit up from the bed. The man grumbled as he helped me drink, "....Paul made me drink you again, right? That man never l
When I disappeared that year, the Cruz family suddenly break ties with the Golden Corp. Then they began attacking the Mckenzie family. There was a huge case involved regarding the murder of Mrs. Cruz. When I first heard about it, I was shocked. According to Denise, the Mckenzie family was behind the accident which caused Mrs. Cruz and the unborn child to die. I put the pieces together and understood why Uncle Tristan used such methods to threaten us. Although it was a bit unfair that I am the one receiving the scare of his threats, I still felt bad about it. It turned out that the Mckenzie was more disgusting than I thought. I don't want to admit that I came from that family. My parents were actually the person who caused so much pain to Kane's family. After knowing the truth, my anger towards Uncle Tristan and Kane dissipated a lot. I had become more obedient as a hostage which in return, Uncle Tristan gave me a bit more freedom. He allowed me to socialize here and let me meet m
Three years later.... Many friends and families of the graduates came to attend the graduation. I have become one of the elite students who graduated with flying colors. I looked around the hall looking for familiar figures. "Stella Mary, congratulations." My classmate, Hugh, with a thick Russian accent, came to congratulate me. He was one of the friends I made here at the university. "Thanks, Hugh. Did your family come?" "They will arrive later. You know how my family always comes late." I laughed at Hugh's answer. "Stella Mary! Congratulations! I know you will come out on top of your course!" One of my dorm mates, Jamie, hugged me. She put the flowers she brought into my hands. "Hey, don't huggle Stella on your own. My turn." Lilac, who came after Jamie, pushed the latter away and hugged me. Jamie and Lilac were both of my dorm mates for three years. We have become friends since then. It's been three years since I stayed at the university. I did not expect I would stay
Snow was falling. As far as my eyes can see, the whole world was covered in a white blanket. Just where the heck am I? Am I in the north pole? I was unconscious the whole time. When I woke up, I was already in this small villa where snow was constantly falling. I bet I am in another country. Because there was no way it was snowing in the middle of summer. And the mountain of snow outside the window just tells me that I am in a cold country where snow was falling for a long time now. I hugged the thick overcoat and felt saddened by the fact that I am a hostage. "Young Miss. The adviser is here." Adviser? I moved my wheelchair and went to the study room. Fortunately, these people did not mistreat me even though my status was a hostage. They provided me with everything I need like food and clothing. But I couldn't get my phone or tablet back. Any kind of communication was cut off. The only people who were allowed to talk to me were these guards. Because I know that it was Uncle Tr
Kane's eyes were bloodshot. "It is you who said to me that I should love only one woman who moved my heart. And it is Stella. I won't love anyone but her in this life. No matter if she was once a Mckenzie, I don't care. Even if you don't accept her, I will only love her. The Mckeznie? To hell with them. I don't care what you do to them. But you have to return Stella to me." Tristan's face turned dark as well. "You can love anyone but not her. She has a blood of a Mckenzie, a red-head-" "I don't care! I love her, Dad! To me, she is the woman I want to spend the rest of my life. If you can't accept that, then I won't force you. Just tell me where she is." "I can't. With her around, our fight with the Mckenzie will complicate you. You are already unstable. If she is by your side, it will affect your decision-" "I am not interested in fighting the Mckenzie. You can fight with them the way you want." "Kane...Are you saying you would rather choose that woman than our family?" Tristan
..... "Master, I have received a call from Young Master Kane. He is on his way here." The head butler came to report to Tristan. The head butler felt uncomfortable for lying to his young master. But he couldn't disobey his Master's orders. Tristan was standing on the window looking at the bright moon above. He did not react to the head butler's report and just continue to stare at the dark sky. When the head butler thought that he would be dismissed, the man asked. "Has she arrived safely?" The head butler bowed and answered, "Yes, Master. The people there called me a few minutes ago that they have arrived at their accommodations." "How long is it until her legs will heal?" "It's about a month, Master." "Don't let her come out of that place then. Watch her closely. If she ever made contact with my son, changed the address. I don't care which country she lives." The head butler hesitated a bit. "Master...I know I am going out of line by asking this, but is it really alright
"I don't believe it as well. So I dig deeper into this so we can prove that the Cruz empire is innocent. However...." "But what?" Kane asked in a heavy tone. "Things got more suspicious. The more I investigate the more I found their movement fit all the missing pieces in the puzzle. I think someone higher up in your company has control over all of this. " "...Send me the details." Kane was having difficulties accepting all of this. He wouldn't believe it as long as he see it with his own eyes. He could not accept that his own people would do this to the people close to him. A while later, he received an email from Eduardo. Kane printed all of them and was stunned when he read every page. If it was other people, they wouldn't be able to find out the involvement of Cruz Empire in this incident. They were meticulous enough and did not leave any traces. However, Eduardo was not an ordinary person. He has the means to dig up and his intelligence could find the minute flaws that the
They were the people who kept sending threats with fresh blood. They are the people who caused me to have an accident.Dread came to my whole being. I looked up at the thin middle-aged man with red eyes.Are they here to kill me?This was the first time I saw them in action. There was no doubt that they were here to harm me.I could not help but tear up.After battling with Mckenzie and persevering, I thought I could finally start a new life without being afraid anymore. But it looked like I could not do that anymore.I stared at the man with tears in my eyes, "Are you here to kill me then?"The thin middle-aged man just looked at me, "I want to. But if I do that, I am afraid it will drive my son insane. Like what happened to me."Huh?Son?Suddenly, the familiarity that kept nagging me found its missing piece. The deadpan face overlapped to the face of a handsome middle-aged gentleman."Uncle Tristan?" I asked in bewilderment."So you still recognize me, huh?"His words confirmed my