Chapter 1: Who Are You?

Happy birthday to you......

Happy birthday to you......

Happy birthday, happy birthday...

Happy birthday to you.....

All the guests cheerfully sang a birthday song for Kimberly Stewart.

It was her 18th birthday.

She was shining brightly like a princess that night, wearing a red ball gown embellished with shimmering gems all over that she designed for herself. 

Her eyes wandered around the event hall that was fully decorated with balloons and different kinds of colorful flowers. Her heart was so full, looking at her guests smiling warmly at her.

Then, she danced with some of her male friends, and her last dance was with her father.

When it's time to blow the cake, her friends and some guests greeted her with sweet birthday wishes.

Her mom was the last one to greet her. "Happy 18th birthday, Kimmy! I wish nothing but the best for you, sweetheart. I'm so glad to have a sweet but strong, smart, and bubbly daughter like you. Always remember that you're my favorite daughter. Well, because you're the only one." Her mom paused for a while when everyone laughed at her joke.

Then, she continued. "Kidding aside, no matter how old you are, you'll always be our baby. I love you... Make a wish and blow your candles."

She was overjoyed. She gazed at her parents affectionately. "What else could I wish for? I’m so happy and thankful to have loving parents and loyal friends. I couldn't ask for more. I only want to say thank you to everyone for coming and spending this precious moment celebrating my 18th birthday." She uttered gratefully as she glanced at all her guests with a lovely smile on her lips.

She proceeded, "And thank you, mom and dad, for everything. I'm so blessed to have you. I love you." She mumbled, teary-eyed. She got emotional, delivering her simple speech.

"We love you more, sweetheart." Her mom replied sweetly and kissed her on her cheek while her dad hugged her tight.

Afterward, she shut her eyes and whispered a silent prayer before blowing the eighteen candles placed on the three-layer cake.

Then, she slowly opened her eyes. However, her eyes widened in terror when she saw the face of her mom full of blood. Suddenly, the colorful event hall turned dark. Everything disappeared, including all the guests, her friends, and her parents.

'What's happening?!’ She asked in her mind.

“Mom!” She cried out. Tears coursing down from her eyes as she continued shouting. However, she couldn't see anything. It was so dark.

"Mom!" She screamed again.

Then, she woke up full of tears and sweat on her face. She found herself sitting on the bed, calling out her mom.

She sighed. It was that dream again. The happiest and saddest day of her life. The look of her mom on her eighteenth birthday four years ago, and her look when she saw her after she died in a car crash a few months ago.

It was her graduation day when the tragic accident happened that caused her to lose her mom and everything she had, including her dad.

Kim knew that her dad loved her mom so much. She witnessed how depressed he was when her mom died. He used to drink liquor almost every day. Until one day, he attempted to kill himself by taking a drug overdose. Fortunately, she found him on time. She was able to bring him immediately to the hospital.

However, after a week, her dad went missing. She searched for him everywhere. She failed so she sought help from the police. Then, she found out that he took the flight to M city. She wondered why, but she got more worried. Thus, she didn't hesitate to follow him even though she knew no one in the said city and didn't know where exactly she was going.

Good thing, her friend helped her find a place to stay. It's a studio-type condo unit owned by her cousin. It's a fully furnished 30sqm open-plan room. There's a two-seater dining table, induction cooker, microwave oven, rice cooker, and small refrigerator in the mini kitchen. There's also a smart television pinned on the wall and a three-seater sofa placed near the bed. She was so grateful. It was a perfect place to stay.

Now, it's been two weeks already since she lived in that strange city, far from the place where she grew up. She found it funny because instead of hunting for a job, she was searching for her dad.

Her tears continued to fall. Until now, she couldn't accept what happened to her family, but she knew that she needed to be strong.

After a while, she wiped her tears away. She took a deep breath as she got out of bed.

She looked at her phone to check the time. It's five in the afternoon already.

"Gosh, I slept too much," She muttered. Even though it's Saturday, she thought that she shouldn't waste her time sleeping. She just felt exhausted earlier, thus she decided to take a short nap. However, she couldn't believe that her short nap took three hours!

She immediately stood up and went straight to the bathroom to take a shower. She still needed to go to the West City Police Station as she received information that her dad had seen somewhere on the West Lake.

After she finished taking a shower, she went out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body. Her golden hair was still wet and messy as she picked up her phone from the bed.

"Dad, where are you?" She whispered as she typed a text message on her phone and sent it to his number. She'd been sending him daily messages, hoping that one day he would reply.

Afterward, she checked her purse. Her money was running out already. She let out a deep sigh, thinking that she should find a job soon to continue the search for her dad.

Kim was about to walk towards the closet when the door suddenly opened. Then, a man abruptly barged in and locked the door. 

Her brows raised as her eyes grew wide in alarm. Her mouth fell open, but she was not able to utter any words. Her heart was pounding wildly in her chest. The only thing she managed to do was to embrace herself.

She was stunned. 'How was he able to enter? Didn't I lock the door?' She asked in her mind.

She heard the man let out a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry, Kitty. I need a place to hide." She heard him apologize before he turned to her. 

She twitched her brows as she thought. 'Kitty? Who's Kitty?'

Then, she saw the shock registered on the man's face as he looked at her from head to toe, but the shock instantly faded and was replaced by confusion. Nevertheless, she could see the admiration in his striking grey eyes when he gazed at her almost naked body.

"W-Who are you?" She muttered furiously even though she got scared by the way he gawked at her. She hugged herself tightly as though she could cover every part of her body.

However, the man didn't respond. Then, she heard noises outside.

"Help! Someone broke into my room!" She shouted. She was going to shout again, but the man quickly ran into her and covered her mouth with his hand.

"Hey, don't shout. I won't do anything to you, okay? Just let me hide." He mumbled in an irritated tone, looking straight into her eyes. He was so near that she could feel his warm breath on her face as he spoke. 

She stared at him in terror. 'How could I trust this stranger? What if he's a criminal and was being chased by the police?’

A chill froze her on her spot at the thought. Her heart was stumbling over. She was so frightened that he would do something evil to her. She wanted to struggle. However, she couldn't move, afraid that the towel, which was the only cover of her naked body, got ripped off.

Suddenly, someone outside slammed the door open. Her eyes bulged once more as she saw two men enter.

'Of all the units here, why did they choose to play hide and seek here?' She complained in her mind.

The next moment, she was even more shocked when the stranger suddenly pulled her body on him and pressed his lips on hers!