“Why do you have to attend an opening party for a hotel? You don’t own this hotel, do you?” I asked, not ignoring the possibility that my guess could be right. “I don’t but one of my closest friends does. On top of that, the security system of this hotel was designed by my company,” Brandon replied casually. “Oh, right…I keep forgetting that you also own a cyber security company,” I said as I nodded my head. Just as our conversation died down, we arrived at the grand opening of a new luxury hotel that was smack in the middle of the shopping district in the city center. I felt like the dress that I had on was slightly too tight around the waist but there was nothing that I could do about that now. The slick black limousine that we were riding had arrived at the entrance of the event. I could see the familiar red carpet on the floor right in front of the car door. Brandon got off the car first before leaning down towards me to offer me his hand. “Your hand, My Lady,” Brandon said a

**Roughly 3 Months Ago**“To this address please. Please drive as fast as you can…” I said hurriedly as I handed my business card that had my address on it to the taxi driver. It’s been years since I’ve last ridden in a taxi. Being a rich socialite like I was, taking the taxi is just out of the question. However, today was different. Everything in my life was changing and I knew it. My body ached from last night and I felt extremely uncomfortable. The fact that the taxi driver kept glancing over at me from the rearview mirror, didn’t help to improve my unstable mood. I reached my hand into my limited-edition brand handbag and fished out the shameful papers that that man dared to rub in my face last night. My eyes narrowed in anger at the divorce papers that I held in my hands. How dare he sign these divorce papers and then sell me off to another man like that?! It wasn’t like I didn’t want to divorce from my husband. Marrying him was the worst mistake that I have made in my short l

“Liam, where are you?” I spoke through the phone. “Madame. I’m on standby downstairs with the car. I figured…that you’ll be going somewhere…” Liam said politely but I could hear the remorse in his voice. I hired Liam as my private driver not long after I married my husband. At first, I hesitated because I liked driving myself around and enjoying my privacy in the car. However, George had insisted that it would reflect poorly on us if I didn’t have a driver to escort me to places, especially if I was heading to a public event with the press around. Liam’s absolute sense of responsibility made him one of the best decisions that I have ever made in my marriage with George where everything else sort of went wrong. “Thank you, Liam…I don’t know how to thank you enough,” I said as I felt tears creeping into my eyes. I’m about to start crying again. Honestly, I hated crying in front of strangers, but I couldn’t hold it in in front of the policemen earlier either. George’s sudden departur

A few days later, the couple that came to see me in the orphanage returned and I was taken back along with them. I didn’t have any belongings and I left the orphanage with pretty much all that I had on. While in the back seat of their car, I looked through the back window at the orphanage as the car was driving away. Somehow, I had a feeling that I would never ever return to this place. Generally, I was over the moon happy, I was able to leave without any regrets except for one: I didn’t get to say good bye to the older guy that saved me from the fire. Goodbye big brother…we probably won’t ever see each other again…When I thought that a single drop of tear rolled down my cheek and I secretly wiped it away so that the couple wouldn’t see me crying. Honestly, after that day I was too busy adapting and living my new life that the thought of that big brother never crossed my mind again for a very long while. He became part of the old life that I had to leave behind. The ride to my new

“If you want a perfect husband, you have to start by being a perfect bride! Listen to me!” my mother started shouting. I knew that the reason why I was hanging on to this scar didn’t make any sense at all, but I just couldn’t bring myself to erase it. “I have a headache. I’m going to sleep now; I have a test tomorrow…” I mumbled before turning away. “You can’t avoid this forever! Elena!” my mother shouted after me. I ran up the stairs as quickly as I could and headed for the sanctuary of my own bedroom. Closing the door behind me and locking it firmly so that I could hide away from my mother. Her shouting seemed far away now. Running away was the option that I always chose so that I wouldn’t have to fight with her directly. She’ll get busy with other things, and she’ll forget about this scar on my back. After entering the bathroom, I started stripping in front of the mirror. Turning my back towards the mirror and glancing over my shoulder, I could see the thin patch of scar on my