Mikael's MansionManhattan, New York, US. 4 AMMikael almost swore when he heard a knock on his bedroom door in the middle of the night—disturbing his sleep when he could only close his eyes about an hour ago.He heard Claire groan uncomfortably as he moved to break free from her hug. "Calm down," he said while stroking Claire's cheek gently.He stepped off the bed and walked quickly to the door before opening it roughly. "How dare you disturb my sleep, Lionel!" Mikael closed the door and let Claire sleep peacefully in their room.His eyes flashed angrily at Lionel who was standing in front of his bedroom door. "Can't you wait until morning?""No," Lionel looked worriedly, "I'm afraid we'll be late if I wait until morning."Mikael frowned, "what happened?" His eyes narrowed suspiciously.Before Lionel could answer, he heard footsteps and quite a loud commotion on the first floor.Lionel turned his head, and then he looked back at Mikael. "He's coming," he said calmly.Mikael snorted a

Venice, Italy. 17 Years Ago"Leave me, Lionel," Mikael turned and looked at the suitcase Lionel was carrying.Lionel looked up, then frowned, "is there anything you want?"Mikael shrugged, "you don't need to help me," he said while taking the suitcase from Lionel's hand, "if you want, you can go back to the United States.""What?" Lionel looked at him in surprise. Then he took a deep breath, "come on, the car is waiting outside the airport."Mikael stopped his steps, "are you going to drop me at my uncle and aunt's house?"Lionel turned his head and then stepped back, forcing Mikael to follow him."Not only am I dropping you off, but I'm going to live here with you."He stared at Lionel in surprise. “Why do you have to be here? Weren't you just ordered to accompany me?”Mikael vaguely recalled the incident this morning when he fought with John.Oh, how John hated him so much that he arranged for him to go to Italy during the day so that he would be in a foreign country by night.Well,

Mikael's Mansion Manhattan, New York, US. 7 AM “We found her location,” Lionel said calmly while showing the location point on his iPad. "She's in her apartment?" Mikael raised his eyebrow. "Are you kidding me? Hernandez couldn't have let her in there, could he?” “Yes, he did,” Lionel nodded his head, “looks like this is a trap. I feel as if he allowed Claire to stay there to lure us and—” Josephine knocked on the door and interrupted their conversation. Mikael and Lionel turned their heads together. After their conversation a while ago, Josephine didn't really know what Mikael was doing. Her son had gone with Lionel—just as had happened years ago when Mikael went to Italy with Lionel. In the past, she couldn't do anything but cry and watch Mikael leave. However, now she did not want to repeat the same mistake. She didn't want to let Mikael get away from her... “Can I… come in?” She spoke doubtfully. Lionel turned his head to Mikael. Then when he saw Mikael not giving any r

Manhattan, New York, US. 9 PMHours had passed. Claire had finished her second glass of strawberry juice, but Josephine still didn't come to where they promised to meet.The sky is getting dark. Night came without being able to stop by Claire—bringing cold air that felt like piercing her bones.Today… everything feels heavy.She still couldn't believe that after everything that had happened, she could still stand on her feet—withstanding all the devastation in her heart and decided to meet Josephine amidst the disappointment that shackled her. She suppressed herself—forced herself to go to Josephine so she could hear all of her explanations. Because even after everything that had happened, she still hoped that all of this was just a misunderstanding—just a mistake that they could work out after they met and talked together.She still hoped that… John and Josephine were not like what Anderson had told them about. She still hoped that it was all… fake. That reality in the past wasn't as

Anderson’s MansionManhattan, New York, US. 7 AMClaire hugged her cramped stomach—it felt stiff, as if something was gripping her tightly. She had felt nauseous, so she ran to the bathroom just as she woke up, but she couldn't throw up, and that just made her feel even more tormented.It felt like something was wrapped around her stomach and made her uncomfortable.She remembered that a few days ago, she had felt nauseous. That was so bad. However, she is not sick. She was just nauseous because… because of someone's presence.Claire took a deep breath…Her hands clenched tightly over the edge of the sink as her stomach churned again. She let the water keep flowing, but she did nothing. Even for a moment, she wished she could spit something out.Unfortunately, last night she only swallowed a few pieces of meat. And this morning, she hadn't eaten anything, so it was impossible for her to throw up something. Nothing was coming out of her stomach, making her feel even more uncomfortable—