I'd just entered the elevator when a tall figure followed me in, his long legs closing the distance between us easily. I instinctively clutched the umbrella tighter.

Lorcan followed me for quite some time.

I had to cross a wide street to get to the delicatessen where they sold pastrami sandwiches. The green light of the pedestrian crossing lit up, and without paying any attention to the people around, I headed toward the street across from mine.

The rain got heavier, ruthlessly splattering against my umbrella. More puddles began to form on the road, and even my sandals were soaked.

Suddenly, a large truck burst forward, the puddles spraying as it drove past them. I stood frozen under the umbrella like a deer in headlights.

The next moment, I felt a gust of wind behind me. Someone had lunged for me, his warm, strong body wrapping around me as we hit the ground and rolled to safety. The rain soaked through our clothes as we clung to each other.

There was red in the rainwater.

A loud ringing filled my head as I lay on the ground. I propped myself up slightly and found Lorcan lying prone as well, blood trickling down his body.

I peeled the strands of hair clinging to my face, shivering with the cold as I leaned over and picked up my phone. Without wasting time, I dialed 911.

"Why are you crying, Tessa?" Lorcan asked, his eyes suddenly opening as he flashed me a smile. "I'm not dead yet, you know."

The rainwater merged with my tears as I held him, propping him up. I snapped, "I'm not crying!"

A smile played on his lips, his heavy-lidded eyes closing. Terrified he'd fall asleep, I held him and kept talking to him. "Why did you run over, Lorcan?"

He chuckled, only to cough out a mouthful of blood. "Because I… am your bodyguard… of course."

I tasted the rainwater. It was salty.

The surgery went well. Lorcan pulled through the critical stage, but remained unconscious for now. The doctor couldn't give me a straight answer on when they expected him to regain consciousness.

I gaped at the man now lying in the hospital bed. He looked as brusque as ever, though his brows were still tightly knitted.

My mind turned blank. Countless emotions, most of which were inexplicable, built up within me until they threatened to carve my neck out.

It was a bittersweet feeling.

Callum entered the room then with a paper bag. "Here, Tessa. Get changed before you catch a cold."

"Okay…" I opened the bag to find my clothes from back in high school nestled within. I lifted my gaze to Callum, waiting for an explanation.

"No, it's not what you think!" Callum quickly defended himself. "I was in such a hurry and came across these clothes in his car. He'd stored them for years. I thought they were just regular spare clothes he often used."

Just then, I felt emotions crawl through the crevices in my heart, which wrenched at the thought of it. In the end, Lorcan went back on his word, for he was unconscious for a long time.

He'd promised to take me to see Sabrina in half a month, but he didn't wake up when it was time for us to call in our orders.

The doctor also mentioned that if Lorcan did not wake up, he'd live like this forever.

I'd been so terrified that the tips of my fingers turned white.

I moved out of the hotel and into the VIP hospital room. In the quiet of the evening, I opened the window and let in the evening breeze.

If I had to be honest, Lorcan was far better-looking than the celebrities on the internet. He was full of masculinity, with strong, chiseled features and luscious lips. He also sported a very attractive build.

I propped my chin up in my hand and subconsciously reached out to touch Lorcan. He was soft in some places and hard in others, his skin hot under my fingers.

I blinked and felt the blood rushing to my face.

There was a sweet-sounding snort that came from the door, startling me so much that I turned to look at the visitor.

"My, my, Tess, are you only capable of doing something so depraved and pathetic?" The woman took off her shades and mask, revealing a face that was both familiar and not.

It was none other than Sabrina.

I was stunned, not because of Sabrina's sudden appearance here, but her looks. She'd lost a terrifying amount of weight. Her face was gaunt, and she wore her pallor like a second skin.

Gone was the young woman and little girl who'd been bubbly and warm.

"Oh, don't look at me like I'm some creature to be pitied on," Sabrina chided, quirking her mouth. "Don't worry, I'm recovering well. I should be back to normal after New Year's."

I said nothing, but Sabrina continued anyway, "What happened to Lorcan? Don't tell me he's actually sleeping when the person he's missed the most is right in front of him! Has his intelligence gone down?"

"He got into a car accident," was all I said.

"Oh." Sabrina grabbed a stool and planted herself beside me. "So he lost some of his intelligence due to the accident."

I gaped at her speechlessly.

"Say, Tess, you look different."

I met Sabrina's gaze. "What, you got a problem with that?"

"No…" Sabrina couldn't help snickering at my inexplicable hostility. Her eyes glittered with amusement as she said, "I was just going to say, you look better now."

I was taken aback by her frankness. "There's something wrong with you."

"There is," Sabrina readily admitted, grinning. "But seriously, though, I came to talk business."

"What?" The word had only just left my mouth when she smacked my head.

"I'd like to hunt down the bastard who told you Lorcan and I were an item. If that were true, my mom would have crawled out of her grave and beaten me into a pulp!"

I… Damn. I shot her a dirty look. "My sources are none of your business. I'm not telling."

Sabrina eyed me wordlessly, then grabbed me on both sides of my head and enunciated, "Let me make this clear—you are the only person Lorcan has ever loved."

Sabrina's gaunt face was magnified before me. She clutched my jaw so hard that my mouth was forced into an "O", and my eyes were as wide as saucers.

"Tessa." Sabrina waved a hand in front of my face and asked with a frown. "Did you hear me?"

I still said nothing, but in my daze, I thought I saw Lorcan's hand twitch on the bed.

Sabrina grew exasperated. She seemed to be in a hurry to leave. She stood up and swung her Chanel purse down, hitting Lorcan as she chided, "Better wake up soon, Lorcan, or Tessa's gonna leave you!"

This time, it was my turn to be rendered speechless. I sputtered. "How childish."

However, the next second, Lorcan's fingers twitched, and his voice was hoarse and full of pleading. "Tessa, please don't go…"

Everyone else called me "Tess", but only Lorcan had a thing for calling me by my full name. My name sounded nicer when he said it—more pleasant, somehow.

Sabrina flashed me a triumphant smile, then turned and gave me a haughty look. But she panicked when she saw me crying. "Don't cry, Tessa. For the record, I didn't pick on you. If Lorcan sees you crying when he wakes up, he'd kill me!"

A soundless laugh escaped me as I took in her panic. The tears in the corners of my eyes began to flow like rivulets.

Sabrina left us that night.

Lorcan woke up the next day. My throat tightened at the sight of him. I wondered if he still remembered what happened last night.

After some hesitation, I could only thank him. I ignored the emotions and guilt building up in me as I got up to leave with my suitcase.

"Tessa," Lorcan called out to me in bed, his tone grave. "A life for a life. Is this how you intend to repay me? By brushing me off and leaving?"

I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at him. "What more do you want?"

"What more do I want?" Lorcan snorted, then stood up and slowly approached me. "What if I wanted you to give yourself to me? Would you agree?"

He backed me up against the wall, and I couldn't help but keep my eyes down.

"If you refuse, I can always give myself to you. How about it?" He pressed his forehead against mine, his eyes bright and dark as they flickered with something like joy, hope, and fear.

This reminded me of who I'd been ten years ago. I was just like Lorcan now, waiting for the person I loved to notice me.

"Lorcan." I willed myself to meet his glittering, near-obsidian eyes. There was no warmth in my voice, and my words were like a dagger ready to slice his heart open. "That's cheap of you, don't you think?"

Lorcan released me.

A week later, the mastermind behind the car accident was revealed to be Gregory Townsend, Xander's older brother.

It didn't take long for the news to climb to the top of most-read articles. After all, Lorcan's accident had been a big deal. As I scanned the pictures in the news, I thought there was a vague familiarity about this Gregory person.

I was stewing in my thoughts when Skylark Entertainment retaliated a few minutes later. They uploaded a few pictures and documentary evidence that all pointed to Gregory's betrayal and destruction of Moondust Corporation, prefaced by his battle to usurp the last CEO.

I knew Moondust Corporation. When I was younger, Dad would carry me while he stood in the yard of our house. He'd gaze up at the moon and miss my mother, Luna.

My mom died of childbirth shortly after I was born. Every time my dad watched the moon, I knew he was thinking of her.

My dad had found Gregory on the streets. He'd been a young man who got the short end of the stick in life and wanted to end his own, but Dad took him under his wing and gave him a job at Moondust Corporation.

After that, Gregory rose through the ranks. He then cornered my dad—the man who'd found him at his lowest and given him a second lease on life—into choosing death so he could become CEO.

Lorcan wasted no time after Gregory's scandal made it to the news. He immediately acquired Moondust Corporation, adding salt to Gregory's injuries. The whole process took less than two hours.

I gaped at the intimidating man in the video and thought I saw some of Vincent, my dad's bodyguard, in him.

Dad had hired Vincent Steele as his bodyguard when I was eight, and the man had devoted most of his life to protecting Dad. Ten years later, his son stepped up and saved Dad's company.

I recalled the way Dad had frog-marched me out of the house the night before I went abroad. "Don't come back after you leave, Tess! Promise me you won't look into this or meddle with it!

"It's too dangerous for a young woman like you to get involved, do you understand? All I want is for you to live a peaceful, simple life. Promise me, Tess! Promise me!"

Tears streamed down my face as I got into the car. I nodded and promised him, "Okay."

I stopped checking in on Dad after I went abroad. I did nothing as his name and reputation were dragged through the mud. But Lorcan had been working behind the scenes for me, silently avenging my dad.

I didn't see Lorcan after that.

One day, Sabrina reached out to me and asked that I meet her at the cafe just outside the hotel. I quickly put on a change of clothes and headed out.

Sabrina was still wearing shades when she raised her hand and beckoned me over. "Hey, Mrs. Steele! Over here!"

"Shh, don't call me that!" I surveyed our surroundings and claimed the seat across from her. "What did you want to see me for?"

"Lorcan was the one who dug up all that dirt on Gregory on the internet. He did that for you, you know. If that doesn't make you Mrs. Steele, what does?" Sabrina countered under her breath, but I heard her anyway.

My heart tightened, but she continued, "Lorcan told me about your company's upcoming commercial production. I was hiding from Gregory and the others before while receiving treatment for my illness. I had to lie low and avoid the media."

"Gregory?" I repeated in surprise.

"Yeah." Sabrina sipped her iced black coffee and added teasingly, "Lorcan found all the information released through Skylark Entertainment's official channels, you know. He told me to keep an eye on them. What a genius, huh?"

My fists clenched at the explanation. I paused for what felt like a long moment, then uncurled my fingers. I smiled at Sabrina and said, "Yes, he's quite the genius."

At the end of our conversation, Sabrina and I reached a consensus over the terms of our collaboration. Before she left, she turned on her heels and asked, "By the way, did your company reach out to any other celebrity?"

I shook my head. "You're the only one we need."

I meant it, too. I booked a plane ticket for a flight back to headquarters after wrapping up negotiations here.

Jonathan had accomplished his assignment three weeks ago and missed his girlfriend back home terribly. He didn't even bother staying a night in the city and flew off the first chance he got.

As for me, I doubted there was any reason to keep me here, so why should I stay?

A bitter laugh escaped me.