Chapter 1.

"Darling, can you call your father and grandfather here? Tell them that dinner is ready," Chaeyoon calmly called her daughter. 

"Alright," Ariana enthusiastically replied as she lowered her tablet. "Hey, don't cheat okay? I'll just call grandpa and daddy upstairs," she told Yves before leaving the young man. 

"Faster!" the young man yelled to his cousin. Laughing, she ran out of the dining area and proceeded upstairs. When she's finally near her father's study room, she slowed down her pace 

With a big smile on her face, she moved towards the door. Who wouldn't be overjoyed to be welcomed into the dela Vega family? They've treated her as if she's been one of them since she was a child, which is why she's so delighted now that she's officially a member of their family. Ariana felt like she wasn't different from them, that she wasn't an adopted daughter, because they accepted her with such tenderness.

"Just kill me instead, grandpa! She's not welcome in our family!"

"Brian Gil dela Vega!" Ariana was about to open the door of the study room when she heard her father's voice from the other side of the door. 

"What kind of attitude is that? Your mom and I didn't raise you to be like that." She frowned, why is her father scolding Brian? 

"Don't be such a jerk will you? You do realize that Ariana is an orphan right? Her mother is dead and she doesn't even know her father, not even where her mother's relatives are. Don't you feel sorry for her?" Her grip on the door knob loosened and she weakly let go of it. So, they are talking about her. 

"Of course, I do feel sorry for her…," it's Brian's voice. He's the one their father is talking to and it seems like they are arguing because of her. She suddenly felt a pang on her chest because of that thought. But then, what Brian said next hurts her more. 

"But I'll never accept her as my sister, daddy! That will never ever gonna happen. Never!" She immediately covered her mouth with her hand to suppress her loud gasp. So that is the reason why he kept on avoiding her these past few days. Because he doesn't accept her as a member of their family. 

But why is that? They're on good terms. 

"You stupid brat!" She flinched when she heard her father furiously yell. She for sure knows that he's mad. She took a step backwards, away from the door because of fear. She's so scared that she didn't notice Nana Salome and bumped into her. 

"Oh, darling. Why are you still here? Go downstairs and we're going to eat already." She blinked multiple times. The maid's eyes landed on the study room's door and faced her once again. "Are you okay?" She asked her when she noticed that her gaze was fixated on it. 

"A-alright,"she answered nervously. Due to the last encounter with the maid and the hurtful words that she heard, her mind wasn't in the right condition. She's frantic. 

"You should go downstairs and eat."

"But mom told me to call daddy." They both turned to the study room door. The voices from inside the door were inaudible, maybe because they were far from the said room or maybe because the yelling inside had already stopped. 

"I'll call them later. I saw them earlier when I was going downstairs and they seemed like they were talking about something important."

Ariana nodded. "Is that so…" She released a deep breath. "Okay, I'll go downstairs now," she said as Nana Salome just nodded to her. 

Ariana seemed to be floating in the air as she went down the stairs.  She could not forget the argument between her father and her brother in the study room.  She couldn’t help but be sad.  She thought that everyone would accept her and everyone was happy for her to be part of their family.  But she just thought that, because of all the possible objections to her being part of the dela Vega family, Brian was the last person that would come to her mind.  Why is that?  They're best friends, so why? 

Too distracted by everything, she didn't notice that she took a wrong step and before she knew it, she found herself falling downstairs. She heard someone scream her name but she didn't recognise the voice as she had already lost consciousness. 

****

She was awakened by the voices of people talking around her. Even though she can't see them, she can clearly hear and understand their topic. 

"I don't know when she will wake up. I've been asking her doctor numerous times but even they can't tell us when exactly will Ariana regain her consciousness." That's her mommy Chae's voice. 

"Don't worry ma'am, God has mercy, I'm sure your youngest will wake up soon." This time, it was Nana Salome's voice. "If only I knew this was gonna happen to her, I should've gone downstairs with her." Regret was evidenced in Nana Salome's voice. Now, she can finally remember what happened, she fell down the stairs and lost her consciousness. 

"Don't blame yourself, Nana. No one wanted this to happen to Ariana, my only wish is that she'll wake up soon, she's been out for a week now."

One week? But why does she feel like it all happened just a moment ago? If so, then it's already been a week since the accident happened. 

"The doctor also told me that she may lose her memory or that she may experience mental illness. With the severity of her injury, I just wished that the result would be neither of the two possibilities. I'm afraid Nana, that when my daughter wakes up, she won't recognize me or that she'll have a mental illness." There's a pang in Ariana's heart the moment she hears her mother's words. She wanted to open her eyes and comfort her mom, saying that she didn't forget her. But then, there's a fear in my heart. Fear that she kept om facing inside her dream. 

Inside her dream, she's happy with her new family. But then Brian came and screamed profanities at her. Because he can't accept her in his family, he made his parents choose between them. He even threatened their parents that he'll end his own life if they'll choose Ariana over him. 

"Just kill me instead, grandpa! She's not welcome in our family!"

Brian's words are like a dagger that keeps on stabbing her already fragile heart. All she wants is to have a family, a father and mother, siblings that she can call her own. Maybe her feelings don't matter to Brian, but his words hurt her the most. It's more painful because he is her best friend. 

"If she ever loses her memories, I think it won't last that long since her head doesn't get that much damage, right?"

"But if she wakes up without remembering anything, Nana Salome. I'll take her abroad like I told Renoir. She will stay there until she recovers."

Ariana knew that she shouldn't think anything against the family that took her and loved her. But she couldn't resist the fear in her heart. She didn't want to lose her family, she didn't want them to revoke the adoption once Brian made his parents choose between them. She wanted to stay as a dela Vega yet she doesn't want her best friend to hate her at the same time. There's no other way than to do the only thing she's thinking right now. 

"Darling! You're awake!" Her mother was frantic the moment she opened her eyes. 

"My God! I'll call a doctor real quick!" Even Nana Salome was frantic when she woke up. She quickly rushed out of the room to call a doctor. 

"Baby…" Her mother called, on the verge of tears. She stared at her crying mom from the door of the room. "I'm glad that you're awake now, how's your feeling?"

She wanted to say something, but she already made up her mind. She needs to pretend that she lost her memories and that she'll only recognize her parents. She heard that they'll take her abroad once she lost her memories, in order to get away from Brian's rage, living abroad is the only way for Ariana to do that. She hoped that her best friend wasn't that heartless to take away the parents of a child who just lost her memories. 

She may be selfish. Too selfish because he'll lose his parents because of her. But, can't he let her borrow his parents from him? All his life, Brian has his parents by his side, unlike her who didn't even know nor meet her own father. Her own mother doesn't even care about her. She died hating Ariana. For now, she wants to be selfish even just for now. 

"Ariana, are you alright? Why aren't you speaking, baby? D-does it hurt somewhere?" Tears streamed down her mother's eyes, Ariana wanted to hug her and tell her that she's alright, but her plan will be ruined once she uttered a word. 

'I'm really sorry, Mommy. Sorry, for I will be selfish for you and daddy's love for now.' Ariana kept on repeating inside her head. 

***

When the doctor left, the triplets, who are now Ariana's step brothers; Ken Rick, Kurt Rex and Brian Gil with their grandfather, Klimt, aunt Victoria and her husband came in. 

"Hey lil sis, is it true that you have amnesia?" Kurt asked as he's the first to approach her. He was sad, and when she didn't answer him, the man looked depressed. She just stared at her step brother. Ariana tried her best to appear like she's trying to recognize and memorize every detail on the man's face. 

"You can't really remember us?" It was Rick who asked. He's beside Kurt and stares at her with dejected eyes too. She shook her head a few times as an answer, still trying her best not to utter a single word from her mouth. In this way, she won't make any mistakes in front of them. 

"That's too unfair!" Kurt cried. "You remember mom and dad but you can't even recognize us?"

"Kurt, tone down your voice. The doctor said it isn't good for Ariana if we try to force her to remember," their father remarked. 

"But dad, it's unfair!"

"K, shut up!" Rick warned his twin. "For the love of God, you're in a hospital."

"Ariana," Ariana felt the hair on her arms stand the moment she heard Brian's voice. Rick and Kurt gave way for him to approach her bed. She shivers when she feels his presence near her. "Ariana, do you also not recognize me?" Brian's voice sounded miserable compared to Rick's when he asked her that question. And yet, she didn't say anything. Instead, she trembled as she pulled the white blanket and hid her face under. 

"D-don't come near me, please…" She shook her head repeatedly "Please don't come near me, I don't know you."

She knew that everyone was taken back with her actions, but that's what she truly felt towards the guy. The sight of Brian brings too much fear to her. Fear that Ariana felt for the very first time in her life. She feels like she'll lose everything she has right now because of Brian. 

"A-Ariana?" Pain was evident in his voice, he's in pain due to what he is witnessing right in front of his own eyes. But why? Doesn't he dislike her? 

"Please, d-don't come near me," her voice is trembling because of fear. Fear that she doesn't even know the reason for. Is it a fear that she'll soon receive her karma for lying? Or a fear that tells her that she made a huge mistake because of her own decisions.

'I'm sorry, Brian. I'm really sorry for being selfish for now.'