Katarina It took a whole week before Kylan was finally discharged from the hospital. I didn't leave his side for a day, and Diana came to visit from time to time. He was getting a lot better, but was yet to make a full recovery. I rose from the bed earlier than usual to prepare breakfast before Kylan could wake up. It had become a daily schedule, one that I had been upholding for the past three days ever since Kylan's discharge from the hospital. He was against me waking up so early, but it couldn't be helped. He couldn't fend for himself well just yet, and I was the only one around who could help with the chores and cooking. I moved quietly through the house, not wanting to disturb Kylan. He wouldn't let me lift a finger the moment he wakes up, and I didn't want to start the day with an argument. Our relationship was already standing on thin ice, and I didn't want to let the rift between us grow any further. It took me half an hour to finish with everything, and Kylan was aw
Katarina It was a quiet and exhausting flight back to Seattle. I slept throughout most of the flight, while Kylan remained awake, sorting our problems with work. By the time we alighted from the plane, Diana was already at the airport waiting to pick us up. I was glad with her punctuality, I might have lost my senses if I had to spend another hour or two waiting for her to come and pick us up. All of this weakness was probably coming from my anxiety, but whenever Kylan asked if I was alright, I would fake a smile and lie that I was fine. He had issues to deal with as well, and I didn't want to dump all of my trauma on him. The both of us had gone through the same ordeal, and he probably had it worse than me. "I'll get the bags, don't worry about it." Diana said before gesturing for me to go inside. She could see through my facade, and she knew damn well that I was more exhausted than ever. I thanked her with a bright smile before walking towards the mansion in front of me. I
Kylan Katarina was right, perhaps I was taking things a little too seriously. I was yet to make a full recovery, and putting myself through too much stress was not advisable. However, there was a lot of work to be done. My problems seemed to be piling up every passing day, and I didn't want to wait until they became too much for me to handle at once. However, taking things slowly was probably the best thing to do at the moment. I was trying to solve everything at once, and it did nothing but disorient me even more. "I'll be leaving for the hospital soon, I want to see how my father is doing." I said to Katarina who was halfway asleep. It felt great seeing her calm and chill without losing her mind over the entire situation with Joanna. It had been a traumatizing experience, but I was glad that she was slowly getting over everything that had happened. "I'll come with you," Katarina suggested, but I quickly dismissed the conversation. What she needed now was rest, and it was ver
Katarina Kylan was already awake by the time I opened my eyes. The air was chill, and everything seemed dull even though the sun was already up and shining outside. I didn't need an explanation to know that everything was the way it was because of Makayla's funeral. "Good morning.." I drawled out slowly to catch Kylan's attention. "Good morning." He replied with a smile, one that added a little life to the gloomy atmosphere. I got down from the bed and headed for the bathroom for a quick bath before joining Kylan outside. Even though the events of the day weren't a joyous one, he managed to keep a smile on his face to comfort me and make sure that I didn't feel uncomfortable in any way. After having breakfast, we both got ready for the funeral which was supposed to start by noon. The Anderson's had their own burial grounds, and everything was supposed to take place there. It took thirty minutes to get to the designated location. When we arrived, there was already a small cr
Kylan Just when I thought things were getting better, another problem had spawned out of nowhere, and now I was caught up in the middle of everything. Even though I had expected that this matter would arise sooner or later, I did not expect it to escalate the way it did. Apparently Joanna had been part of a mafia group, and her family's company had been affiliated with this group as well. According to what Diana had told me, the mafia group she had been part of didn't believe that she had died from an ordinary robbery. They believed that she had been murdered, and now they had begun sniffing around for people who might be involved with her death. According to Diana, Katarina would definitely be one of their targets. Since she was Joanna's friend, it was impossible for her to not be a suspect. Chances were that they were already looking for her, and that meant that keeping her indoors and out of danger was paramount. They probably didn't know of her location at the moment, but the
Kylan "Right now, you shouldn't worry too much about Christopher," Cole continued, his breath misting lightly in the cool evening air. "Not when you have the possible threat of an entire mafia gang coming down on you." "I get your concerns," I sighed, slipping my hands into my pockets. The weather had gotten cool rather quickly. "But I doubt Joanna was that important to warrant their entire organization coming after her killer for revenge. Regardless, I will protect my sister and Katarina at all costs." Cole chuckled slightly when I said that, as if he almost didn't believe me. When I turned to look at him, I saw that he was already moving backwards away from the metal bench we had been standing beside. "Alright then boss," he said with a quirked smile. "Be careful though. You better not end up doing something you might end up regretting." With that, he turned and headed towards the sleek silver Mercedes parked several meters away near a food stand. I stood there for a fe
Kylan I stood there for a while, balling my hands into fists as a brief flash of annoyance passed through my mind at how the effects of other people's actions were rippling down into my personal life. With a heavy exhale, I forced myself to remain calm and went into my room. There was no use getting angry now, not when everything was still going according to plan so far. I could not afford to let my temper get the better of me, not when things were still a bit hot. As I lay on my bed, my mind finally began recalling the scene from the kitchen earlier tonight. But as much as I wanted to enjoy it, Katarina's disappointed visage continued to interrupt my attempts at reminiscing about the moment. She had the right to be angry, and the situation wasn't getting any better. With a frustrated sigh, I placed my pillow over my head and shifted my thoughts towards going over my plans for dealing with any unwanted threats that might arise as a result of Joanna's death. That proved as good
Kylan At first all I could think of was smashing the brains of the man before me into the ground, but after realizing that there was no air of hostility around him, I managed to keep my plans to myself. "I'm Kylan Anderson, what do you want?" I returned coldly. It was clear that this man was one of Joanna's gang members, the snake tattoo on his neck was all I needed to see to be certain of it. If he was one of them, why wasn't he doing something? Was this part of a big plan? Or could I just be overthinking everything? He took a step forward, and in response, my hands instinctively curled into a fist, ready to attack at any minor inconvenience. Realizing that I was not receiving him very well, he raised his hands in a gesture of submission before dropping the cigarette in between his fingers to the ground. "If you're really Kylan Anderson, then it's probably best that I tell you not to move any further. You might think you're strong enough, but I promise you that you're no
Katarina "I'm sorry about everything..." Kylan apologized the moment we got home. There were tears in his eyes, and he didn't fight them back. "I lost touch with reality, I was more focused on work than our relationship, I'm so sorry—" He hadn't finished when I threw my arms around him in a warm embrace, my own tears already flowing without end. I had no idea how to repay him at this point, and I genuinely couldn't think of being mad at him anymore. He had saved me for the thousandth time. "T..thank you so much.." I cried while sniffing back tears. I couldn't even be mad at him for everything, not now, not after what had just happened. If he hadn't shown up when he did, there was no telling what would have happened to me. My own parents had betrayed me, I had been a fool for thinking that they would change, and I had been greatly disappointed. All they wanted was money, and to them I was nothing but a means of getting that money. I didn't matter to them as long as money wasn'
Kylan While my men surrounded the building and handled Diana's henchmen, I went in to search for Katarina. It took a while, slinking through the chaos and searching from room to another. However, after ten long minutes, I finally found her and called out the second I recognized her petite figure. "Kylan!" She cried, jumping up from the couch to throw herself into my arms. Fresh sobs shook her slight frame as she clung tightly to me, but I could tell that these were tears of happiness. "Get away from him, you bitch," Diana snarled and made to take a step forward, only to find herself staring down the barrel of the gun I had taken from one of my guards earlier. "If you take a single step from that spot Diana, I swear to God I will paint this room red with your blood." She froze there, her body stiff as a board and her eyes wide with shock at the sheer vitriol in my voice. That was when I saw the terror slowly creeping into her expression. Her arms sagged helplessly at her sid
Kylan David paused in the middle of his words and stared at me with eyes full of reservations and curiosity. Even though it was dark in the room, I could practically see the gears turning in his mind behind those blue eyes of his. The amount I was offering was not something he was not used to receiving for a job, but the only jobs that involved that kind of money were the ones that carried a very substantial amount of risks. Eventually he sighed and waved for me to follow behind him. The eccentric man made his way through the dark house with the ease of someone who knew every inch of this place very well. I simply followed right behind him to avoid any accidents until we reached the basement where the hub of his activities was located. He sat down on his chair and leveled me with a dead serious glare. "You know, in all the time I've known you, I've always thought of you as some insanely dangerous individual, someone incapable of losing their cool, who is somehow able to kee
Kylan My first thought was to return back to the location I had just come from. In Katarina's letter, she had mentioned that she was going back to her parents, to wait for me until I would come for her. But I had met Ann just a while ago, and the woman basically swore to me that she had no idea where her daughter was. She did not even give any indication of having seen Katarina recently. As everything was simply not adding up, I decided to follow my thoughts and drove back all the way to the house. The moment I turned into the street, I realized that the blue car that had been parked in front of the house when I had been there previously, was now missing. I rushed out of my own car and raced up to the house. Yelling out their names, I banged my fist on the wooden door several times. As soon as I realized that I was not going to get an answer, I drew back a bit and slammed the bottom of my foot on the door, right near the handle. The lock mechanism shattered at the well placed
Kylan Even though I could understand the reason why Katarina would run away from me again, I failed to accept any of the things Diana had said. Katarina's love had been real, and so were my feelings for her. I just could not accept that it was all a lie. I knew I had lost her once before, back when I had been too short-sighted to see past my own needs and wants. But she helped me move past that, and I found myself finally able to truly love someone. That was why I knew with certainty that she would not abandon me so recklessly, even though I had failed to give her the attention she wanted. As I made up my mind and left my room to enter the hallway, I glanced down at the closed door to the guestroom that was just at the end of the passage. Diana was still inside, and I could hear the sound of the shower which meant she would not be out anytime soon. Besides, I was fairly certain that she would not be happy with me putting myself through so much for someone that left me on her
Katarina Mama immediately broke down in tears at the sight of me, and now I felt bad for not coming to visit or reaching out to them sooner. She seemed genuinely concerned for me, and it was clear that the mere sight of me had driven her to tears. Was I the bad one for not calling them, for running away without saying anything? It definitely felt like it, but I managed to push those thoughts away. "Is it really you? Is this you, Kat?" My mother questioned as she reached for my face, slowly caressing and feeling it with her feeble hands. "It's me, mother. There's no need to be afraid, I'm not a ghost." I replied, before gently pushing her hand away from my face. It definitely felt good to see her after all this while. We had our differences, but she was still my mother, and there was nothing I could do to change that. "Why did you leave? Why did you run away, I had been so worried." She cried as she gently allowed me into the house. Memories of my childhood and all the time
Kylan Diana answered the call on the second ring, and I gave her a short explanation of the situation. The more I tried to say, the more it seemed as if my heart was about to shatter within my chest. I ended up leaving the call halfway when my voice began to waver, my grief pushing me to tears that I had not shed in as long as I remember. I sat there, as lifeless as a stone statue, with a multitude of thoughts flashing through my mind. No matter how I looked at the situation, I could only see the many ways I had fallen short of the things I should have done. But there were all the things I had failed at. Everything had been going so well before now, so how could I have made such a terrible oversight? Had my determination to make everything right caused me to be blind to what had been right in front of me? I honestly had no idea how long it took Diana to arrive. I was so out of it that I barely even heard the front door open and close. She called out my name twice, but I had n
KylanAt some point, I was starting to wonder if these papers were somehow multiplying when I wasn't looking. I had already long lost count of the number of hours I had spent behind this desk, working my mind and body to their limits in an effort to get through the files on my desk. It was probably late by now, and I had lost track of time. But yet, as I looked at the stacks across the black wooden surface, it was as if I had yet to make a single dent. I looked down at the document right in front of me, a complex ledger that was detailing a pending transaction of a high enough level of importance that it required the signature of the highest power in the company. I quickly read through it, putting my advanced processing skills obtained through hundreds of hours of effort and experience. It did not take me long to go through the entire document, finding it suitable before I moved to sign at the right places. Just before I could pick up the next document, my phone lit up with
Katarina Once again I was left alone at home. I had listened and heard when Kylan left the house, and shortly after Diana's car drove out of the premises. I was left alone once more, and had completely lost appetite for the food before me. It was becoming exhausting sitting around all day and doing nothing. And thanks to Kylan always being out every time, I hadn't even had the opportunity to discuss my decision to start working. I got out of my room to return the food back to the kitchen. The smell had begun to make me feel nauseous, and I didn't want that anymore. Bored, I toured the house, moving from room to room and checking out anything that caught my attention. However, it was not enough. The clock was ticking especially slow today, and it was slowly driving me insane. Left with no other choice, I dressed up and left the house for the first time in a while. I needed it, being held up in one place was definitely not good for my physical and mental health. I was