Chapter 2

Those children were Kyra and me. I wanted to take her to the park to play, but we ended up getting caught in a typhoon that the area had not experienced in more than a decade.

I pulled her along into hiding at the harbor and tried to protect her with my frail, little body. "Don't be afraid. It's just lightning. I'm here with you."

My hands were frozen stiff from the cold, but I still tried to cover her ears clumsily. Right after I tried comforting her with my words, a loud crack was heard in the sky. I looked up right away to see a gigantic piece of zinc that probably used to be part of a shed, being ripped up into the sky and falling right down above our heads.

I did not have much time to think, and I instinctively shielded Kyra under me with my body. I was prepared to take the lethal blow on my unprotected back.

All I felt was pain. It was so intense that I could feel my heart being torn apart. I could almost hear my bones cracking, and warm blood drenched the clothes on my back.

When I woke up next, I was covered with bandages while Kyra sat by the side of my bed with swollen, red eyes. When she saw my eyes open, she immediately came up to me. "You scared me, Julian! The doctors told me you almost died. Didn't you promise to marry me when we grew up? I don't care what you're thinking, but you're the only person I want to marry!"

It sounded like yesterday when Kyra made the promise. Back in reality, a warm tear fell uncontrollably from Kyra's eye. She did not seem to realize the falling tear as she stared at the screen while her body trembled slightly. An older woman in the crowd could not help lamenting in a small voice, "Is that his most precious memory? He must really care for Captain Schneider."

Sean immediately blew his top when he heard her words. He retorted shrilly, "Care for her? If he really cared about Kyra, he wouldn't have betrayed us publicly by joining Eva Waller's criminal organization when Kyra was suspended and placed under investigation for revealing classified information. Do you know how much pain Kyra was in then?"

He turned to look deeply and painfully at Kyra. "Look at him, Kyra! Look at how he betrayed you! You did everything for him and he repaid you with betrayal!"

Sean's words seemed to knock some sense into Kyra as the last of her feelings for me turned into extreme rage and humiliation. She wiped away her tears and stared at the screen with clenched teeth. "You're right. He's nothing but a liar. A disgusting liar who doesn't deserve my tears!"

The next second, the image on the big screen suddenly changed. The memory of our happy childhood vanished, and was replaced by an image of a luxurious yet decadent private room. I was kneeling by Eva's feet while deafening music played.

Eva was wearing bright, red heels when she raised a foot to lift my chin while smiling with amusement. The image was a shock to everyone watching, and it said more than any words put together.

"Ugh! How disgusting!"

"That gigolo is an embarrassment to the police force! He should just die!"

The crowd gathered at the square exploded with curses even worse than before.

Kyra was shocked to see me bend over to lick the wine from the floor. She turned pale and almost fell as she stumbled.

"You shouldn't be watching this, Kyra. This disgusting image will only dirty your eyes." Sean tried to cover her eyes right away.

"Let go! I want to continue watching!"

Kyra's eyes were red, and her fingers dug deep into her palms, causing them to bleed. She stared at the screen and watched as I lost my dignity in front of Eva, and said miserably, "I'd like to see how far this man, who claimed that he loved me, will stoop."

I continued floating in the air as I watched the deep hatred in her eyes, and my soul curled up in pain.

The timeline on the screen flashed forward quickly, and I soon became Eva's favorite lover. That was also when the police force held a press conference to announce my dismissal from the team, and my parents made a public announcement via the papers to cut ties with me at the same time.

During the darkest hour of my betrayal and my loved ones abandoning me, the image changed scenes to a late night during a storm. Kyra was drenched in the rain as she stopped me in front of my high-end condo.

She broke down when she saw me in a robe with love marks all over my neck that were left behind by Eva on purpose. She grabbed me by the collar as tears streamed down her face, along with the rainwater she was drenched in.

"Tell me this isn't true, Julian! Tell me that you're doing this for a reason!"

Kyra was filled with pain as she begged me for a reason. Her knees went weak, and she fell hard on them right in front of me. My soul felt like it was being torn into pieces as I continued floating midair while watching her sob and beg without dignity on the screen.

She had always been a proud woman who refused to give in to anything, but she was hugging my leg as she begged with great humility, "Come back with me and give yourself up, Julian, please! If you're willing to change your ways and come back to me, I'm willing to start all over again with you, even if I have to give up this uniform…"