Camellia walked down the street blankly, as if only her body was there while her head was wandering nowhere.The shadow of the conversation seemed to weigh heavily on her. She took a few deep breaths, and her feet occasionally stopped while she was staring around.On the people who walked past her.“I think I’m the only one walking in place,” she whispered as she continued to pace back.Camellia’s head was also downcast, hiding the shock that was chasing in her face.She felt that she had no more solutions. And the only one who could help was Brandon.Of course, Hagen doesn’t count. She didn’t even want to fill her head with that man.She had just arrived at the bus stop, when a familiar car stopped on the shoulder of the road.Seeing that, Camellia snorted. She pretended to be busy with her bag, trying as hard as possible to ignore the figure of the man who got out of the car and now walked over.When the man’s shoe was within her sight range, not once did Camellia lift her head. She
Hagen hugged Camellia gently, who was crying, and put her head on his shoulders. He took her and walked away from the sidewalk.Some pedestrians who had been around the two now moved away one by one, as if knowing that their existence would cause them problems.“I want to go to the hospital,” Camellia sobbed with a frantically quivering voice.She didn’t even seem to notice the man who led her to a car on the side of the road, not far away.“My d-dad is in the hospital. I have to go there!” She said with both hands squeezing Hagen’s clothes, which were wet with tears.The man didn’t make a sound. He just led in silence, while his hands were tightly wrapped around her waist.“Please!” Camellia cried in a hoarse voice full of pleading. “Please, my father needs me.”Hagen’s heart was constricted. He continued to carry her until the two got in the car, but not a word came out of his mouth. Although his expression seemed flat and expressionless, behind his obsidian eyes was stored a burst
Camellia stared at the payment transaction for his father’s hospital bill, which was fully paid, with a flat gaze. She knew who had paid for everything, so she just had to bear the irritability in her heart as she walked out of the hospital.Occasionally, she stared around, looking for someone who might still be there. However, the man was not seen everywhere, causing Camellia to be a little disappointed and relieved at the same time. At least, she wouldn’t meet Hagen there.However, her steps halted as soon as her gaze fell on Garry Frank, who was standing in the parking lot with a firm posture and both arms in front of his chest. The man was just standing alone and seemed to be waiting for someone, whom Camellia believed was her.After all, who else would Blake Hagen’s subordinates bother if it wasn’t her? As she recalled, at this time, she was the man’s new prey.Realizing this, the eighteen-year-old girl also quickened her pace with her head down to avoid the man’s gaze. She tried
Camellia’s hand froze in the air as soon as she read the message Brandon sent. She bit her lower lip as she walked restlessly in her bedroom.She wanted to curse her boss because Brandon could have done this to her when he was aware of her feelings.Camellia glanced at the phone screen once again while sighing time and time again.Brandon: I want you to clean up this place.Below the caption was an address that Camellia already knew very well because she had been there. Precisely, imprisoned in that location by the heartless manCamellia: What does all this mean?With great anger, she retorted with words that clearly showed her dislike.Camellia: If you want me to go back to that place, it’s better to just fire me now! I’ll never go back there. Have you forgotten that you alone freed me from that damned place?Camellia’s chest tightened with rage, and she didn’t know how else to deal with it.Brandon had no right to do this to her. Is he amnesic?It wasn’t until a few seconds later th
As she had expected, he would definitely come to her home.Camellia deliberately hid behind the curtains of her room and pretended to be deaf as soon as she heard the sound of the doorbell ringing. She even turned off her mobile phone to avoid him, and she also locked the entire access into the house.Luckily, Camellia had already replaced all the keys on her doors, so he wouldn’t be able to use the stolen keys.“Why doesn’t he give up?” Camellia growled as she closed the curtains and approached her bed.She waited until she couldn’t hear any more doorbells. After some time, the house finally fell into silence again, making her sigh softly. A little relieved, but there was also a disappointment that she quickly repelled strongly.Meanwhile, Blake Hagen could only wait for Camellia to open the door.He had been standing in front of the house ever since, but apparently his arrival was not welcomed.Though obviously, the girl was in the house.Hagen accidentally found her peeking out fro
“Did you see anything?” asked Hagen as he entered the room in his apartment.Frank was silent in a chair, watching a CCTV screen. Blake Hagen’s right hand man shook its head softly while the focus of his eyes never left the screen.“No one has been out of that house since morning,” he said as he fiddled with the pen on the table.“I’ll leave it to you, and I’ll be back later,” Hagen said, patting Frank on the shoulder quietly before he finally left the room.He was walking across the corridor leading to the second floor when suddenly his cell phone rang and Brandon’s name appeared on the screen.With a sense of laziness, Hagen picked up the call.“What? Isn’t it enough that yesterday’s events traumatized you?” he said coldly.Hagen glanced at the watch on his arm. Now it’s eight in the evening, meaning that Camellia has returned from work.He had been following her schedule since the morning, including her task of cleaning an apartment on the outskirts of town.It felt like he wanted
Brandon winced inwardly as soon as his gaze collided with Hagen, who was at the end of the lounge. Several times, he had to turn his head to avoid those sharp gazes.When the atmosphere around them felt even more suffocating, Brandon cleared his throat, which resulted in Blake Hagen’s eyebrows rising closer to his forehead.“Ahem...” Brandon said, trying to stare in all directions.For a moment, the room was quiet again, before finally Brandon sighed, sounding tired. Because obviously, Hagen would never let go of that sharp gaze.“Well, I’m sorry,” Brandon muttered with his shoulders bent listlessly. “I didn’t realize things out there could be this bad.”Instead of responding, Hagen simply gave a terrifying glare.Brandon’s personal bodyguard chose to get out of the way near the entrance to the corridor.Knowing Brandon’s nature, he would not be able to sleep well before he delivered his apology.Hagen closed his eyes while sighing softly.“Fine,” he murmured, and then he turned his g
Camellia’s face turned slightly scarlet as soon as she said the word. With her head turned away, she deliberately avoided eye contact.Hagen, who was at the door at the time as stunned as her. He was not sure of his hearing. However, upon finding Camellia, who blushed slightly, the corners of his lips twitched.“I went out looking for breakfast,” Hagen said, which made the girl’s cheeks flush even more, but he was not the least bit guilty because it was a rare sight. So he just enjoyed her beautiful face changing colors.To avoid awkwardness, Hagen asked, “Do you want porridge?”As much as possible, he diluted the atmosphere with a cautious tone. Hagen didn’t want Camellia to feel uncomfortable being around him.“N-no,” she replied in a reluctant manner.He showed an understanding smile and decided to leave right away. However, before passing the door, he paused for a while. Then he abruptly turned around to face Camellia, who was still lying on the bed.Her breathing was immediately
Camellia’s head dropped as she stepped off the bus that was taking her to the bus stop on the way home. She didn’t look around because she had been thinking so much about the woman earlier.She didn’t even look up when she accidentally bumped into someone in front of her. She just said sorry without even turning her head. Then she walked past the burly body in front of her.However, her steps stopped as she heard a masculine voice call for her.“What’s in your beautiful head, Princess?” asked the man who instantly made Camellia freeze before she finally turned to the source of the voice, which was now standing right behind her.Camellia just stared sadly at that handsome face that seemed to be looking for an answer for a moment. But, of course, she surely wouldn’t say anything after everything happened.After all, it wasn’t his business if she felt dumped.The truth, Camellia felt saved by the incident with the woman earlier, because she could be more aware of the intentions of the ma
Camellia opened the door of her house, where Frank was already standing at the front with both hands full of gifts. The man’s straight face showed that he didn’t agree with being given such an unreasonable task, but his loyalty kept him from saying anything.With a passive gaze, he greeted Camellia with no enthusiasm.“Mr. Hagen asked me to deliver all of these.”Camellia, who was stunned by the man’s many belongings, could only freeze at the doorway. She just stood there for a moment, glancing at all the gifts.“He said... that party is in two days,” she whispers in a confused tone.It seemed that Hagen had predicted that she would ‘agree’, so he was so confident that he sent all of the gifts and deliver all the clothes and other items for the party even before Camellia answer his called.Camellia took a deep breath after realizing his intentions with all the things delivered to her house. She just exhaled slowly; don’t know what to do with the situations.“He’s too confident,” she m
Camellia looked reluctant when Hagen opened the car door for her. She looked around, looking for a way home other than the ride Hagen had offered, but knowing that the money in her purse would not get her home, Camellia sighed and looked witheringly at the man’s car.“Going home alone is not a good solution right now. It’s too late, Princess, and I can’t leave you alone,” said Hagen, who opened the car door wider again.With a head gesture, he told Camellia to come inside. She thought for a long time before finally letting her inner voice overcome her logic.“I’m not going in until you promise me something.”Seeing Camellia’s serious gaze, Hagen waits patiently with one hand in his trouser pocket. His eyebrows seemed to invite Camellia to continue.While swallowing and looking straight at his obsidian eyes, Camellia said, “Don’t follow me into the house. You just walk me to the front door.”Hagen paused to think about her request. He was going to say something but finally pursed his l
The men in the room all grunted at the same time, which made Camellia jump in surprise and make her shoulders tense. Meanwhile, Hagen, who kept his eyes on her, seemed deaf to the subtle insinuations of his friends.“Yes, he can throw us out, Miss Duncan.” A blonde-haired man named Gavin threw his joke, causing laughter from all the men there. “Isn’t that so, Jax? Mr. Hagen can expel me, you, Rey, and every Red Cage in this room!”The man who had greeted them, Rey Fredrick, only glanced briefly at his friend, Gavin.Meanwhile, Jax, also known as Jaxon Bradwood, the owner of the white chair that Camellia almost sat in earlier, didn’t respond at all. And the man with a friendly smile who was sipping his drink in the corner of the room, Connor Black, seemed to laugh softly.“He’s a man with a great sense of humor,” replied a man who had been sitting quietly on the opposite sofa, Nicko Anderson.Hagen just glanced lazily at the man who had spoken. Meanwhile, Camellia, who didn’t know the
When their kiss broke, Camellia’s body shook slightly until she almost lost her balance, but Hagen quickly held her waist, which felt right in his grip to support her body. She tried her best to hold onto Hagen’s arm as he hugged her from the front.The red hue on her cheeks now seemed to spread to her ears, making Hagen bite inside of his lip and hold her between his palms.For some reason, he wanted to brush her long hair back, then play with it a little and admire the slight change in color on her sensitive skin.When Camellia saw that Hagen was looking at her, she quickly turned away to hide the shame that was starting to take over her.“I-I want to go to the toilet,” she muttered while lowering her head and trying to look away.Camellia was about to turn around and walk the other way to avoid touching him. However, Hagen, who knew that Camellia would not find a nearby toilet without someone helping to point the way, finally followed her from behind.“The toilet isn’t over there,
Camellia held Hagen’s arm tightly as her head spun around, especially at the crowd of people around them who were about to enter Magnolia building.When a big man was about to bump into her from behind, Hagen reflexively hugged her feminine body. He directed a burning gaze at the half-drunk man, who began to realize his mistake.“I-I’m sorry,” the stranger muttered as he walked backward and away in a hurry.Meanwhile, Camellia, who was still in Hagen’s arms, seemed to be squeezing his shirt to keep her balance, which made her almost fallen.“Stay by my side,” Hagen said in a low voice, right in her ear. The noises around them made it difficult for them to communicate. Then Hagen pulled Camellia to his side, one arm around her waist.“I don’t want you to get lost, Princess,” Hagen said lightly, but Camellia didn’t respond at all. She resigned herself to being led by Hagen past the two doormen in front of Magnolia.“Boss,” said one of the bouncers on the left side, so that his friend a
Both Camellia and Hagen ate in silence. However, not long after, Hagen grabbed Camellia’s hand as soon as they finished eating their burgers about ten minutes ago.Hagen was eager to take Camellia somewhere, but Camellia looked confused at him.“Let go of my hand first, then I’ll follow you,” she said, but Hagen didn’t even listen, making Camellia throw a glare, which he didn’t respond to.“What about watching a show?” asked him suddenly, which made Camellia silent immediately.She glanced at the deserted street of Magnolia. It seemed that everyone was already there, making her curious.Knowing Camellia’s gaze, Hagen gently tugged her hand in his grasp, cueing her to follow him.With a doubtful gaze and a bit of confusion to decide, Camellia looked as if she were at war with her own mind, but Hagen immediately encouraged her.“As long as you’re with me, you’ll be safe. No one will dare bothering you.”Camellia was only eighteen, so she was forbidden from entering places like Magnolia,
Camellia’s eyes rounded when she saw Hagen walking towards the café where she was. With her head turned around, the girl was also looking for a way to get out of there.However, she still didn’t find a way, so Camellia felt trapped as soon as she heard the sound of the bells on the door starting to ring, and Hagen’s figure was already in the doorway with his attention focused on the table she was occupying.With an uneasy gaze, Camellia watched Hagen, who was walking slowly towards her.Now, she felt deja vu because she remembered her mother, who had also passed through the same door and path when approaching the table.And when the man arrived, the first thing Blake Hagen said was, “The woman you saw with me earlier is nothing.”Instantly, Camellia’s lips thinned. She didn’t think the man in front of her was so confident.Without being told, Camellia was also not interested in asking about or snooping into his personal life.“There’s no need to tell me anything about your private lif
Camellia sipped her milk shake very lazily. The girl even looked pensive, with blank eyes looking towards the wall.Every now and then she took a breath, and then exhaled slowly, like a tired person.She leaned back in her chair after a long time, her gaze shifting to the visitors around her.It seems that Lancester is very crowded with visitors from different cities. That’s because of an underground boxing match that will be held later tonight by the Red Cage organization at one of their clubs, Magnolia.Unfortunately, Camellia didn’t have access to it, though she also wanted to see the most-awaited event by half the Lancester residents.“What a pity,” she grumbled.She changed the position of her legs before finally returning to exhale heavily.“Hhhh...” the girl said with a slightly sullen face.Camellia glanced at her phone a few times, just to make sure Brandon was replaying her message.“Why should he send me to this place?” She whined, annoyed with her boss’s attitude of asking