*Flashback*
He stared at the twinkling stars above him. The sky was clear and the weather was warm. He could hear the waves crashing against the coast while the cool sea breeze felt comforting. moving his hand, he pointed at the North Star.
“So far,” he muttered. He traced the skyline with his finger, wondering how far it extended. The boy was barely fifteen years old and his blue eyes gazed at the sky as he lay there at night all by himself. His mind was blank while his heart was numb. The boy was not sure why he was there again. Was it because he wanted to run away? But he could never run away. That was made clear to him years ago.
Then why am I here? He wondered.
He was lying atop a small rocky coast whic
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The whole area was surrounded with police cars and ambulances. Jason stood at one end of the bridge, watching the rescue team diving into the water. A crane had managed to pull out his car but there was no sign of the girl.Officer John Ahn was there, overseeing the rescue mission. They had received a call on their emergency line that Jason Cho was in an accident while the girl with him was missing. Many hours had passed since then and the more they delayed, the lesser were the chances of the girl’s survival.David had also arrived on the spot, talking to the policemen. He had given a description of the girl to them but none of the divers could find her. The lake was deep but the tide was not so strong at that time. She could not have drifted very far.Jason was
Alina patiently listened to the Mermaid’s story about how she gave the pearl to her uncle.“So you’re saying that mermaids give their pearls away to someone once they fall in love,” she said. “And if that person does not fall in love with the mermaid then the mermaid disappears into the sea, never to be found again?”“Yes!” Alya nodded.“And if the mate has the pearl, then their injuries are healed quickly?”“Uh huh.”“So, to save my uncle, you had to give him your pearl?” Alina concluded.“Yes!&rd
“The vitals look normal,” Adrian said as he checked Jason’s pulse. The latter was sitting shirtless on a hospital bed. After Adrian heard that there was an accident, he thought that Jason was badly hurt but to his shock, the man was completely unscathed. “Not even a scratch,” he murmured. “This is strange.” “I must have fell out of the car before it hit the water,” Jason shrugged. “Weren’t you wearing a seatbelt?” Adrian asked. “It would’ve been very difficult for you to take it off and jump while the car crashed into the bridge. Everything must have happened in a flash.” Jason tried to rack his head and remember what happened but it was blank. He simply remembered that he passed out sometime during the even
Alya’s eyes flew open and she was gasping for breath. Her face and body was sweating profusely, the nightmare leaving her completely scared and confused. For a minute, the white ceiling above her made her think that she was back at the lab. Panicking, she sat up only to realize that she was not at the lab. It was already morning and Alina was sound asleep next to her. The wall clock read 8:55 AM. Alina had told her that the servants would arrive at 9 to check up on her. Quickly getting off the bed, she hid in the bathroom, listening against the door. A few minutes later, she heard someone entering the room. Jocelyn entered to see that Alina was still asleep. Seeing that no one was around, she reached over and twisted Alina’s ears. The little girl yelped awake to find Jocelyn pulling her ear.
Jocelyn strode around the mansion grounds, heading towards the vegetable storage which was located right behind the large house. It was a large shed where Jason’s staff kept only ingrown organic vegetables and fruits for the residents of the mansion. The place was kept neat and tidy as per Jason’s orders and was fairly airy.She entered the shed, looking for the fresh batch of cucumbers which had arrived.“Feeding the freeloader so much!” she muttered as she carried the crate. “Burdensome kid! She should have died with her parents!”Muttering curses under her breath, she turned around to carry the crate out but the door to the shed shut close.“What the-”
Jason stared at the empty space in his drawer for a few minutes before calmly closing it. He took a deep breath and composed himself. It was obvious that someone had broken into his bedroom and stole the ring. The thief was probably one of the household staff but if he confronted everyone, the thief might get alerted and run away. Instead, he decided to pretend that he had not noticed it. He took out his phone and dialed David’s number. “Hello sir,” he greeted. “David, I want you to find out if any of my household staff has visited a pawn shop recently,” Jason instructed. “Or was seen wearing a purple diamond ring anywhere. Take help from the traffic police to secure the CCTV footage from their recent visits. I’d say, you’ll need a week’s worth of data.”
Back in her bedroom, Alina could not hold in her laughter when Alya told her about how Jocelyn ran like a pig after she was threatened.“And then she ran out of the room screaming ‘Ghost ghost!’” Alya laughed. “She thinks I’m a ghost!”“Serves her right!” Alina exclaimed. “But is she leaving?”“She’ll need one more push I think,” Alya said thoughtfully. “But she’s really scared! I think I can drive her out tonight.”“I’ve heard Uncle Jason is gonna let her stay the night,” Alina scowled. It was past lunchtime and as usual, Alina was served lunch in her room. Jason was downstairs doing some wo
That night, the mansion was empty sans for Jocelyn. Alina was upstairs in her room, sleeping while the nanny remained fearful. She was cautious of the faintest sound, jumping in fright even at the slightest brush of air. After what happened that day, Jocelyn was scared for her life.Someone wanted her out of that house but who? Why would they want to get rid of her?Did someone find out about the stolen objects? She wondered. But how was that possible? If someone did find out, then they would have told the head Butler. Yet, that person remained quiet. Gulping hard, Jocelyn proceeded to walk towards the living room. I should watch some television series to get my mind off things.The house was eerily silent. Upon stepping into the living room, even the large mansion felt quit
*Three Years Later*Jason was pacing back and forth outside the operation theater. His heart was anxious but thankfully, it was not in pain like the other times. However, it was extremely cold thanks to what was going on inside.“Relax uncle!”He looked around to see a spunky eleven year old girl with long, curly hair and the same blue eyes as him. Alina had a growth spurt over the past three years. She was now almost reaching his shoulder.“Aunt Alya will be fine!” she told him. “If you get too anxious, she’ll only panic.”“I can’t help it!” he scowled. “And kids shouldn’t be here! Why aren’t you at school?”
The sun was shining brightly in the sky. Its lights fell on the series of tombstones in the graveyard. Colorful flowers were blooming all around the family which was standing next to a pair of graves with a shared tombstone. Despite the nice weather, the family was solemn as they paid their respects. The tombstone had a writing on it:“Here lies Sheila and Charles Wang. Loving parents and good people. Date 19XX to 20XX”Max dabbed his eyes, lamenting the loss of his granddaughter and her husband. Cain and Jason told him that they died in a car crash and also revealed that Alina is Sheila’s daughter who was being taken care of by her uncle and his fiance. Jason and Cain stood on his sides with their lovers. Alina was kneeling in front of her parents’ graves, silently crying.“I miss you
Alina woke up in the hospital. She was heavily sedated; Jenna’s beating had caused her arm to be fractured.“Alya...sis…” she mumbled.“I’m here.”The girl’s eyes flung open and she was delighted to see that Alya was there with her.“You’re here…” she whispered, reaching out for Alya. Alya smiled and took her hand.“I am. You should rest.”“How long have I been here?”“Almost two weeks,” Alya said. “You were badly hurt by Jenna.”“But...Aunt Jenna
Jason and Cain sped towards the factory. Cain was on the phone with his men, giving them instructions.“My men just informed me that Heath Seo was spotted outside that factory we’re heading to,” Cain told him. “How did you know he’d be there?”“I just do,” Jason muttered. Cain was suspicious but he did not ask anything else. He had filled in Jason about what happened at the Tang mansion that morning and even though Jason was tense, he was also worried about Maxwell.“Looks like grandfather took this well,” he muttered.“Well, he never really liked my mother in the first place so he wasn’t too sad seeing her leave,” Cain remarked. They were now about to leave the main city but the factory was st
Jason pulled up in front of a restaurant when he suddenly felt the familiar sensation in his heart.“Agh!” he winced when his chest became cold. He was gasping for breath and closed his eyes to lay his head on the steering wheel.“What the hell?” he muttered. “Why is that sensation happening again?”He touched his heart and it was colder than the earlier attacks. Jason was sure that it was a warning sign and that Alya was in immense danger. Flashes of her running through the rain were popping in his head.“Why is she outside?” he whispered. He was so engrossed in his pain that he did not notice a familiar Maybach pulling up behind his car. There was a knock on his window and to his surprise, it was Cain.
*Few Hours Ago*Monty arrived at the place where Jenna called him. It was a narrow alley located within an industrial area where several factories were meshed together. The buildings were in a series of rows, put side by side. A small dockyard was situated at the end of the place where a few ships were anchored.The workers had gone home for the day because the sun was setting. The gloomy clouds hovered in the sky, indicating that it was going to rain that night. Monty looked around for Jenna and finally spotted her standing a few meters away. He slowly walked towards her.“You called for me?” he asked.Jenna was wearing a pair of large sunglasses and she took them off to examine him.“Did you fi
Malorie quietly followed Cain to the patio and waited for him to talk. He was quiet for a while before turning to face her.“You should have told me about this,” he began. “That my mom was threatening you. We could have worked something out.”“I wanted to find our child first,” she replied in a small tone. “If I had told you, she might have gotten alerted and killed Billy. I couldn’t take the risk.”Cain stared at her for a while before sighing. “We’re both idiots,” he muttered. “We talk about being on our own but in the end, we let my parents manipulate us…”Malorie was staring at her fingers, unable to understand what to do. So many things had happened and it was going too fast.
Dahlia was hosting her regular afternoon tea with the socialites at her home. As a tradition, she hosted these gatherings every week with the elite class women so that she could increase her network and influence. Despite the setback with the wedding, she was now more determined to match Cain up with someone even more influential than Jenna.“Mrs. Wang, I hear that your daughter Catherine is coming back to town!” Dahlia was saying. They were sitting in the living room, sipping tea and having cakes. Butler Austin put the trays of food in front of them and stood aside.“She is,” Mrs. Wang replied. “For a business deal.”“I hear that she is now a very renowned interior decorator,” Dahlia remarked. “Maybe we should have her over for dinner sometime next week? I&rsquo
Malroie was watching the news, filled with dread. Over the past week, there was nothing other than James Park’s sudden death which had caused the business world to go into a frenzy. The stocks of his company fell and it was acquired by the notorious research firm owner, Heath Seo. Jenna took over the business and the Tang’s were in great debt. If there was no additional investment, the Tang’s were going to be ruined.The reporters were crowding outside Cain’s office. They hounded him as soon as he was out.“Mr. Cain, what’s your next strategy to pull this business together?” the reporters demande.d “Can you save the company?”“Is it true that your wedding to Jenna Park has been called off?”“Can you