I entered the front door of my mansion, my entire body still tingling from when Sehun kissed me against the wall earlier. I never knew that I could feel so liberated. I never knew I could feel so happy. I never knew I could feel so lighthearted. I pushed open the door and widened my eyes in shock. The living room was completely empty of furniture.

All the chandeliers, the leather sofas, the flat screen TVs, the expensive ornaments, the priceless European paintings that dangled on the wall, the expensive imported carpets.... everything was gone.

I should have expected this. I knew that they were going to take everything away. I just didn't know that it would be so... abrupt. I felt shredded. The temporary happiness I got earlier from Sehun seemed to have vanished completely, leaving me empty and hollow, like a broken shell. I bit my lip and went up to my room. Everything was gone too, except my bed and my laptop. I ran downstairs to my dad's office. I knocked on the door but the butler came and gently pulled me away.

"Miss, you can't go in now. He's in a meeting with Mr. Xi."

I widened my eyes in shock. My father was having a meeting with Luhan's dad? Why? Luhan's father was a huge investor in my dad's company and one of the board members, but it was still weird that they were having a private meeting together. Something felt wrong. I went up to my room, a strange feeling churning in the pits of my stomach.

After a while, I heard the office doors open and my dad and Mr. Xi emerged out, still talking in low tones. I heard the sound of cars zooming off into the distance and I knew that they had left. I immediately sneaked down and crept into my dad's office. His office was a carefully arranged chaos, papers were streamed everywhere and it had a sense of disarray to it.

I looked at the papers on the desk and started sorting through it. Something caught my eye. I lifted a photo up and gazed at it intently. I gasped out loud in shock and horror. It was a photograph of me and Sehun kissing in the rose garden. I trembled slightly as the photo drifted to the floor. Who took this photo? How could it end up on my father's desk? It was late night at that time, who was spying on us?

I started sorting through the papers more urgently, my fingers still trembling. I saw a background profile on Sehun. It had his picture, his date of birth, his address, his email, his number... practically everything related to Sehun was on that document. His family tree was sort of blank, but that was the most worrying. His mum was "not identified" but his dad's name, Oh Se Jung, was highlighted and written in bold. There was even a cross beside his name, a bright red cross.

I crumpled up the paper and threw it across the room. I saw more photos of me and Sehun; photos of us walking to school, walking on the street, holding hands, laughing and talking. It was terrifying.

My father was spying on us. My father was spying on Sehun.

Why?

I ran out of that office like it was on fire. I ran up to my room and buried my face in between my knees. I wanted nothing more but to deny this harsh, cruel reality, to somehow escape the fact that my father knew about Sehun all along, and he had been spying on him.

Just then, my phone beeped.

I stared blankly at the huge headline adorning my iPhone's screen. It was front page news. It was a picture of my dad and Mr. Xi shaking hands, smiling happily, a huge cheque in between them.

"LEE JI-SUK ESCAPES SINKING SHIP TO JOIN VENTURE WITH XI LU WAN."

Apparently, my father managed to escape bankruptcy by joining venture with Mr. Xi's company. As a result, his company was back, and even bigger and stronger than before. Their venture was going to form a conglomerate that could take over the entire world and bring in figures up to billions of dollars. My father was quoted saying "I am extremely relieved and grateful to Mr. Xi for agreeing on this venture. It is safe to say that our companies will be even bigger and better than before."

I sank back onto the floor.

So we managed to gain back everything.



****

Sehun stared at the cold impassive face of his father in front of him. Both of them were in Sehun's living room, draped and clouded in the sinister moonlight. His father looked at his equally cold and handsome son and sneered.

"So that Lee Ji-suk bastard gave you a cheque to go overseas, huh?"

Sehun didn't reply his question but instead said coldly "What do you want?"

Oh Se Jung stared at him and said slowly, his words curling up Sehun's insides. "I'm pretty sure you've been wondering why your mother left you when you were a kid. Do you know why she walked out on us? Do you know why she abandoned us?"

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure it's because she couldn't stand you."

Oh Se Jung narrowed his eyes dangerously at his son. "You better watch that mouth of yours, son, I'm warning you." Sehun's eyes glowered dangerously but he remained quiet. His father took out a cigar and lit it slowly, watching the smoke rings rise up and curl in delicate patterns in the air. He put the cigar in his mouth and eyed his son intently.

"Would you believe me if I told you that Lee Ji-suk, your girlfriend's father, is the reason why your mother left us in the first place?"

The smoke continued to rise up in the air, beautiful yet deadly.

Like a silent predator that lurked in the shadows, to watch and observe, then swoop in and kill. Then it would disappear off into the dark, like it was never there in the first place.